[PDF] Church Boy: Franklin; Kirk by Kirk Franklin at Arts-Photography

Description

What do Natalie Portman; Robert Downey; Jr.; Zach Braff; and Mandy Moore have in common? Before they were stars; they were campers at Stagedoor Manor; the premier summer theater camp for children and teenagers. Founded in 1975; Stagedoor continues to attract scores of young performers eager to find kindred spirits; to sing out loud; to become working actorsmdash;or maybe even stars. Every summer for the past thirty-five years; a new crop of campers has come to the Catskills for an intense; often wrenching introduction to professional theater. (The camp produces thirteen full-scale productions during each of its three sessions.) These kids come from varying backgroundsmdash;the offspring of Hollywood players from Nora Ephron to Bruce Willis work alongside kids on scholarship. Some campers have agents; others are seeking representation. When Mickey Rapkin; a senior editor at GQ and self-proclaimed theater fanatic; learned about this place; he fled Manhattan for an escape to upstate New York. At Stagedoor; he tracked a trio of especially talented and determined teen actors through their final session at camp. Enter Rachael Singer; Brian Muller; and Harry Katzman; three high school seniors closing out their sometimes sheltered Stagedoor experiences and graduating into the real world of industry competition and rejection. These veteran campersmdash;still battling childhood insecurities; but simultaneously searching for that professional gig that will catapult them to famemdash;pour their souls into what might be their last amateur shows. Their riveting stories are told in Theater Geek; an eye-opening; laugh-out-loud chronicle full of drama and heart; but also about the business of training kids to be professional thespians and; in some cases; child stars. (The camp has long acted as a farm system for Broadway and Hollywood; attracting visits from studio executives and casting directors.) Via original interviews with former and current campers and staffmdash;including Mandy Moore; Zach Braff; and Jon Cryermdash;Rapkin also recounts Stagedoor Manorrsquo;s colorful; star-studded history: What was Natalie Portmanrsquo;s breakout role as a camper? What big-time Hollywood director; then barely a teenager; dated a much older Stagedoor staff member? Why did Courtney Love (at Stagedoor visiting her daughter) get into an argument with a hot dog vendor who had set up shop at the camp? Theater Geek leads readers through the triumphs and tragedies of the three senior campersrsquo; final summer in an absorbing; thought-provoking narrative that reveals the dynamic and inspiring human beings who populate this world. It also explores what the proliferation of theater camps says about our celebrity-obsessed youth and our most basic but vital need to fit in. Through the rivalry; heartbreak; and joy of one summer at Stagedoor Manor; Rapkin offers theater geeks of all ages a dishy; illuminating romp through the lives of serious child actors. Rich; insightful; and thoroughly entertaining; Theater Geek pulls back the curtain on an elite and intriguing world to reveal whatrsquo;s really at its core: children who simply love to perform.