Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

It'll probably never make it down this part of the world, but a great new film is now screening (on limited release) in the United States...

Stagedoor is a documentary which follows five different teenagers, as they attend the prestigious performing arts summer camp Stagedoor Manor, in the Catskills Mountains of New York.

I was able to work there as a Camp Counselor and Stage Manager in the summers of 2000-02, and had some of the most fun and rewarding times of my life.

Stagedoor Manor has nurtured and spawned a huge range of talent, including the likes of Felicity Huffman, Robert Downey Jr, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zach Braff and Mandy Moore.

Stagedoor the documentary's the work of Director Alexandra Shiva... the wife of former camper Jonathan Marc Sherman, who went there for five summers in the 80's, and is now a top playwright and actor.

Those featured include a few names I recognise ;-)... Randi Kleiner (Hey Hey Randi!), Taylor Rabow (Hey Hey Taylor!), Nicole Doring, Maddy Weinstein, Robert Wright, plus the long serving staff like Barb Martin, Konnie Kittrell, Jeff Murphy, Larry Nye, Phil Shute, Doug Quinn, David Moellenkamp, Karen Lynch... and a ton of familiar old camper faces I spotted in the trailer alone!



It follows on from the success of the 2003 movie Camp, a fictional film partly based on the experiences of Writer/Director Todd Graff as a camper at the prestigious US Summer Theatre camp, Stagedoor Manor.