jukebox playin'
your daddy's son - audra mcdonald
here's where i stand - tiffany taylor
danny boy - the chieftains feat. diana krall
caught the movie musical CAMP last nite at cathay cineleisure in what was supposed to be its last screening in singapore cinemas. whew~ was so glad that i DID catch it though i was rather apprehensive initially & was very reluctant to make that trip down to town at such a late hour. anyhow, chacha & i arrived around halfhour plus before showtime and thankgod we didnt come any later; when we got seated, it was apparently a full house! even the weird single seat beside me (which was next to the wall) was taken up...
CAMP is based on an actual summer camp for young singers, actors & dancers (stagedoor manor in the catskill mountains of upstate new york) but in the movie, the haven for theatre geeks & freaks is at camp ovation. here, a supposedly str8 teen hunk, vlad (daniel letterle) seeks to answer his true calling (i.e acting) while chasing the skirts of resident bitch, jill (alana allen) and plain-jane faghag, ellen (joanna chilcoat). on top of that, budding drag queen, michael (robin de jesus) has the hots for vlad too but ended up having so-salah sex wif bigvoiced whitney-wannabe, dee (shasha allen) to gain acceptance from vlad. the plot is mostly predictable & unextraordianry in teen movie manner but what sets this show apart from the rest of the teen fluff out there is the ensemble of unknowns who shine wif their earnesty in their stereotyped roles and what little screen time each of them has. eventually however, they are defeated by the mundane & leaky script which failed to fleshen out the major characters of the show, namely vlad, ellen & michael. furthermore, the movie is littered wif wasted poignant moments & undeveloped subplots. after the incredibly neat, happy ending, u'll be leaving the cinema unsatisfied and expecting more...
despite aforesaid flaws, the movie has numerous saving points and most significant of which is the cast of unpolished young actors who have more talent than any american idol contestant ever to grace tv screens! (except for maybe clayaiken or frenchie davis ;p ) Cliched bitchy lines are delivered wif such aplomb they're hilarious by default. Moreover throughout the show, the audience is treated wif a dazzling array of showstoppers which should leave every musical theater afficionado begging for more. Out of these, i think three songs make my ticketprice worth evry cent; 1) the opening gospel number by shasha allen, "how shall i see you thru' my tears." (an excellent piece to whet your apetite) 2) previously meek & dowdy adolescent, fritzi (anna kendrick) turned in a powerful rendition of "the ladies who lunch" as a symbol of self-liberation. (very disturbing but wondeful performance) 3) but it was chubby girl, jenna's (tiffany taylor) tour de force delivery of "here's where i stand", the most sincerely poignant moment of the show, that really made me give this movie its final 4.2/5 stars rating... ~!
what can i say? i'm a musical freak, alrite~? (i still have my term paper pertaining to musicals which i did fer my american cinema module as evidence) ;p
Quoteworthy
"Have you ever experimented with heterosexuality?" - Vlad.
"What? You mean sleep with a straight guy? What for??" - Michael.
---- excerpt frm CAMP.
PS: erm, i know this review is abit too late cuz the movie closed already but hey~ u can still purchase the vcd later! LOL
