Summer camp is one of those cultural clichés that we hold as an icon of American youth. I myself went to Scout Camp every year where I did indeed swim and fish and boat and cook over campfires and play pranks on my fellow campers. It is curious that essentially an entire genre of movies has sprung up to explore this facet of our culture – usually comedically and parodically, but there is also a whole subgenre of horror devoted to the subject.
In 2001, David Wain (previously of the MTV sketch comedy group The State) helmed the comedy Wet Hot American Summer, set on the last day of a Jewish summer camp in 1981. The last day means one last chance to hook up with someone else at the camp. There is a wide cast of characters, including the camp director, Janeane Garofalo, who struggles to maintain order; an astrophysics professor (David Hyde Pierce) who must protect the camp from a falling piece of a NASA space station; counselors Coop, Katie, and Andy (Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau, and Paul Rudd) who form something of a love triangle; a Vietnam War veteran (Christopher Meloni) and his talking can of vegetables (H. Jon Benjamin); and many others, all of which culminates in a camp talent show.
Baxter Avenue Theater presents a midnight screening of Wet Hot American Summer tomorrow (Saturday). Baxter Avenue Theater is located at 1250 Bardstown Road. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Baxter Avenue Theater website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
