--- title: Theater Camp Was Inspired by These Cult Classics description: Theater Camp drew inspiration from films like Wet Hot American Summer and The Parent Trap to the work of Christopher Guest. canonical: https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/ author: Laura Zornosa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-07-14T18:35:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T16:09:41.491Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The Films That Inspired 'Theater Camp' og:description: 'Theater Camp,' a new ensemble mockumentary, drew from far-flung influences. og:url: https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c15befa0d058155/698a3eb5011682b5219833f5/Theater-Camp-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Theater Camp 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Films That Inspired 'Theater Camp' twitter:description: 'Theater Camp,' a new ensemble mockumentary, drew from far-flung influences. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c15befa0d058155/698a3eb5011682b5219833f5/Theater-Camp-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # The 10 Cult Classics That Shaped _Theater Camp_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. Jul 14, 2023 6:35 PM UTC  Theater instructors Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) and Amos (Ben Platt) confer as a group of campers looks on. Theater instructors Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) and Amos (Ben Platt) confer as a group of campers looks on.Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures  by [Laura Zornosa](https://time.com/author/laura-zornosa/)  ## Laura Zornosa Laura Zornosa is a reporter at TIME. Jul 14, 2023 6:35 PM UTC In Warwick, New York, on the New Jersey border, there sits a now-defunct Jewish [summer camp](https://time.com/6284396/when-summer-camp-doesnt-work-for-your-kid/), Kurtz Camp. When the cast and crew of _Theater Camp_—an ensemble mockumentary out on Friday—arrived to film there, it felt like a ghost town, dotted with half-empty Gatorade bottles. Over the course of just 19 days of shooting, Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Ayo Edebiri, Patti Harrison, and a host of child actors brought it back to life. (The production funded improvements to the camp to later [reopen it for Warwick residents](https://www.warwickadvertiser.com/home/warwick-plans-unveiled-for-kutz-camp-revamp-XX2044033?fbclid=IwAR1yRWXvk0%5FPG2yH3cPJJTFnEZt0JNotfDwpGGGRG4UQnaEz4yrVYVh0P2M&fs=e&s=cl).) The rest of the cast, which includes Jimmy Tatro, Nathan Lee Graham, Caroline Sidney Aaron, Amy Sedaris, and Owen Thiele, got comfortable with each other quickly to improvise most of the dialogue. “We didn’t have time to not be” comfortable, says Gordon, who co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the film. “That’s what theater does, right? You all become this little family.” _Theater Camp_ takes place at AdirondACTS, a beloved camp in upstate New York that’s teetering, unbeknownst to its teachers and campers, on the cusp of financial ruin after its founder (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma. Gordon and Platt star as Rebecca-Diane and Amos, two zany, brilliant theater teachers who make AdirondACTS go round. Galvin plays Glenn, the camp’s overworked stage manager who harbors a secret knack for the spotlight. (Platt and Galvin are both well-known in the theater world for each playing the titular role of _Dear Evan Hansen_; they are also engaged.) Gordon—who recently [played Claire](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/the-bears-molly-gordon-is-going-back-to-theater-camp?+utm%5Fsocial-type=owned&utm%5Fsource=twitter&+utm%5Fbrand=vf) on _The Bear_—wrote the film with Platt, Galvin, and Nick Lieberman. She also directed the film with Lieberman in their directorial debut. The movie originates in a short film made [three years ago](https://playbill.com/article/watch-ben-platt-noah-galvin-and-more-in-their-short-film-theater-camp), also by the four friends, who have known each other since they were teenagers through theater and musical workshops.  Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) are worried about the state of the musical they're writing, "Joan, Still," about the camp's founder, Joan, who is in a coma.Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures _Theater Camp_ premiered in January at Sundance to [two standing ovations](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sundance-theater-camp-ben-platt-noah-galvin-molly-gordon-nick-lieberman-1235306406/). Before the film festival, Gordon and Lieberman spent all day, every day in a Brooklyn closet, trying to edit roughly 16 hours of footage into a 90-minute movie. They had approached the project as a documentary, laying out the plot points, but improvising from there—which left them with plenty to work with. “We were really excited to try to make something that was earnest, and then also really specific to this world,” Lieberman says. “And that felt hopefully to people like, ‘Oh yeah, even if I didn’t go to theater camp, this must be what it is like.’” The influences of documentaries and cult films, camp-related and otherwise, reverberate throughout _Theater Camp_. When I saw it, 2003’s [_Camp_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAvAlsX57sg) immediately sprang to mind. A friend saw [_In the Bleak Midwinter_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOMaQb%5FeM5k) (1995) in it, and my coworkers saw the fingerprints of [_Wet Hot American Summer_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RByrRpURS5s) (2001) and [Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries](https://time.com/4526999/mascots-christopher-guest-parker-posey-jane-lynch/). I talked to Gordon and Lieberman (from a Manhattan hotel the day after the New York premiere) about which movies influenced them—and what they might recommend after watching _Theater Camp_. Here are their picks through the ages. ## **_Original Cast Album: Company_** **(1970)** In terms of influences and inspirations, the directors leaned heavily into documentaries. In 1970, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker observed the marathon recording session for the original cast album of Stephen Sondheim’s _Company_. The [resulting documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWsG2dEoUsA) opens a view into a part of the “theater world that not every theater representation has, of people in a room, sweaty, intensely arguing with each other, in this ‘70s cool way,” Lieberman says. “Definitely, vibe-wise, that was a huge inspiration.” ## **_Small Change_** **(1976)** Much of the charm of _Theater Camp_ hinges on the work and creativity of its child actors, for whom the directors have the utmost respect. François Truffaut’s French film [_Small Change_](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/small-change) (_L’Argent de poche_) follows the minutiae of the lives of a group of children in Thiers, France in the summer of 1976\. “He just treats kids so beautifully and legitimately,” Lieberman says, “and takes them really seriously in a way that we love.” ## **Everything by Christopher Guest** The screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian Christopher Guest is an unparalleled force in Hollywood. Best known for having written, directed, and starred in a series of mockumentaries—[_This Is Spinal Tap_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsFm6Yk%5FHkE) (which he did not direct), _Waiting for Guffman_, _Best in Show_, _A Mighty Wind_, _For Your Consideration_, and _Mascots_—his name is synonymous with the filmmaking style. “Christopher Guest is everything to us and we wouldn’t even dare to put our film in the same sentence,” says Gordon. “But we were 100% inspired by him writing specifically for his friends and all getting to kind of play with each other.” ## **_The War Room_** **(1993)** The heavy documentary influence wasn’t limited to mockumentaries—or theater-related fare, for that matter. Gordon and Lieberman both love _The War Room_, a 1993 documentary about Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. “We’ve always dreamed of making a comedy that used the kind of vérité style of that documentary and the visual style of it and the nostalgic, 16-millimeter grain,” Gordon says. ## **_The Parent Trap_** **(1998)** Of course, the _Theater Camp_ tincture also has a healthy dose of summer camp influences—a uniquely nostalgic, American genre. In _The Parent Trap_, Lindsay Lohan stars in her breakthrough role as two 11-year-old twins: British Annie James and American Hallie Parker. Annie and Hallie were raised on opposite sides of the Atlantic—the former by their mother and the latter by their father—with no knowledge of one other’s existence. The twins are accidentally reunited at summer camp, where they scheme to “trap” their parents back together. ## **_Wet Hot American Summer_** **(2001)** In keeping with the summer camp theme, _Wet Hot American Summer_ is an iconic piece of the genre, and has picked up a cult following since its release in 2001\. An ensemble comedy like _Theater Camp_, it features Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino, Bradley Cooper (in his film debut), and Amy Poehler. On the last day of Camp Firewood in 1981, counselors scheme to hook up with each other before they leave. Two overzealous drama teachers, Ben (Bradley Cooper) and Susie (Amy Poehler), try to cobble together Camp Firewood’s greatest talent show yet. ## **_Stagedoor_** **(2006)** In one of few documentaries ever made specifically about theater camp, director Alexandra Shiva chronicles the stresses and successes of five teenage campers, Maddy, Nicole, Randi, Robert, and Taylor. _Stagedoor_ was inspired by Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Jason Leigh, Natalie Portman, Bryce Dallas Howard, Zach Braff, and Mandy Moore—all of whom attended the Stagedoor Manor theater camp in the Catskills. ([As did](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/ben-platt-theater-camp-nepo-baby-new-york-magazine-molly-gordon-1234786447/) Gordon and Lieberman.) _Stagedoor_ swings between comic and compassionate, illustrating just how extreme the experience can be. “A lot of people that see the movie who went to theater camp or were in drama programs are like, ‘Oh my God, my teacher was crazier than this,’” Gordon says. “We could have even made them more kooky, but we wanted to strike a balance.” ## **_Jesus Camp_** **(2006)** _Jesus Camp_—a documentary about a charismatic Christian summer camp in North Dakota—feels like perhaps the polar opposite of _Theater Camp_, but the creators drew fresh inspiration from a drastically different camp experience. “There’s this blackout scene in that movie, and all the kids are playing with flashlights,” Gordon says. “And we have a blackout scene that becomes very silly in ours.” The Kids on Fire School of Ministry camp taught children to “[take back America for Christ](https://web.archive.org/web/20080416225825/http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/article%5F1885.shtml)” and was later closed over controversy sparked by the film. ## **_Rachel Getting Married_** **(2008)** _Rachel Getting Married_ may be billed as a drama, but it feels at times like a dark comedy. This movie, alongside _Computer Chess_, combined elements of comedy with the documentary aesthetic that the directors were looking for. “I remember a dark day right before we submitted to Sundance where we were like, ‘Is our camerawork too shaky?’” Gordon says. “And then we watched _Rachel Getting Married_ and we were like, ‘I think we’re OK.’” _Rachel Getting Married_ follows Kym (Anne Hathaway), an addict currently in rehab, through the emotional minefield of her sister Rachel’s wedding. (Hathaway received her first Oscar nomination for the role.) ## **_Computer Chess_** **(2013)** _Computer Chess_ and _Rachel Getting Married_ were “the movies that we really looked to see the confluence of some of the things that we wanted to function” in _Theater Camp_, according to Lieberman. The independent dramedy is set in 1980 at an unequivocally nerdy computer chess competition in a California hotel. In black and white and shot on analog video cameras, _Computer Chess_ excels at capturing a snapshot of a moment in time, which _Theater Camp_’s directors aspired to do. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/"},"headline":"The 10 Cult Classics That Shaped Theater Camp","datePublished":"2023-07-14T18:35:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:09:41.491Z","description":"'Theater Camp,' the new ensemble mockumentary from Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Nick Lieberman, drew from far-flung influences.","url":"https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/","keywords":["movies","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Zornosa","jobTitle":"Laura Zornosa is a reporter at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/laura-zornosa/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6294820/theater-camp-influences/","name":"The 10 Cult Classics That Shaped Theater Camp"}}]}] ```