Todd Graff's 'Camp' Experience

Summer camps across the country are winding down after a season of swimming, hiking and crafts. But one camp in the Catskills doesn't offer any of those activities, and yet kids come back year after year.

The Early Show's Laurie Hibberd reports from the performing arts camp, Stagedoor Manner in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., where if kids happen to do a sing-along around a campfire, it's probably in a perfect three-part harmony.

"Its addicting" exclaims camper Jessica Waxman. She has been coming there for 10 summers to sing, dance, and like any other teen, hang out with her friends.

Campers come from all over the country for three weeks. They are cast in a play, and spend virtually all their time rehearsing and performing.

If these kids have dreams of stardom, they've come to the right place. The walls of the camp office are lined with pictures of famous alumni like Robert Downey, Jr., Mandy Moore and Mary Stuart Masterson.

Pointing at the campers, camp director Carl Samuelson says, "These are the people who have made this place. It's not me; it's not the counselors; it's not even the great teachers we have. It's the fact that the kids have come here, wanting something, and they've taken it home with them. And these are those kids."

Stagedoor has been so successful that one year on Broadway, there wasn't one show that didn't have a Stagedoor alum involved. And just last month in New York, another alumnus debuted his very first movie, called "Camp."

Todd Graff says it is his love letter to the camp and his adolescence.

He says, "It absolutely saved my life, going to Stagedoor Manor. I was a kid who was on not a great road, and it took me about 15 minutes of being here to have found a completely other way of looking at myself."

The film focuses on three characters coming of age at a performing arts camp. There are rivalries, teen angst, and, of course, romance. At Stagedoor, all that takes a back seat to freedom of expression. Its been said that this is the one place where kids can all come and absolutely be themselves.

So Hibberd asked campers if that statement was true.

"Absolutely," says one. "Oh my God it's like heaven," says another.

"That's why I think that everybody is such good friends here, it's because you come and you be yourself, and then you make friends with the real you," adds camper Jeff Ward.

But just like any camp, friends have to say good-bye at the end of the summer. And for Jessica Waxman and her crew, its time to move on for good.

She says, "I came here when I was 8 years old, and now its going to be over, and I've spent half my life here. So it's going to be interesting to realize that I can't come back again."

"Camp" is rated pg-13, and is showing in theaters across the country.
Graff is the screenwriter of "Coyote Ugly" and "Angie" and can be seen in "The Abyss," "Death To Smoochy," and "Five Corners." "Camp" is his directorial debut.

Other famous Stagedoor Manor alums are:

• Natalie Portman attended from 1995-1997 and went on to appear in "Heat" in 1995, "Beautiful Girls" in 1996 and "Anywhere But Here" in 1999. Her most recent work was starring as queen Padme Amidala In The "Star Wars" trilogy. Portman has three movies headed for theaters: "Large's Ark" (2004) written and directed by Zach Braff; "Star Wars, Episode III" (2005); and "Cold Mountain" (2003).
• Zach Braff attended from 1986-1990. After camp, Braff landed the role of Tony in "My Summer As A Girl" (1994). Braff's most recent work is in the TV series call "Scrubs." He plays the part of Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian. His last film was "Endsville" (2000). He will be releasing "Large's Ark," which he wrote and directed (2004).
• Jennifer Jason Leigh attended in 1977 and 1978. After camp, she found roles in "Eyes Of A Stranger" (1981) and "Young Runaways" (1978). Her most recent works were in the part of Annie Sullivan in "Road To Perdition" (2002) and in the role of Pauline in "In The Cut" (2003). Leigh will appear in "The Machinist" in 2004.