For generations of Americans, sleepaway — or overnight — camp has been a seminal experience. From making lifelong friends to participating in activities that might never have otherwise been presented to young people, this summer ritual has been a crucial part of the fabric of life.
At the very least, it was for Dani Tapper, creator, co-writer, co-composer and producer of “Cool At Camp,” which will have a “staged reading” Aug. 17 at Margate’s Dominick A. Potena Performing Arts Center.
“Cool At Camp” is described by its principals as “a musical romp about kids, camp, crazy parents and coming of age. Bursting with heart, hilarity, and nostalgia, the show brings to life the unforgettable experience of sleepaway camp — the awkwardness, the inside jokes and the lifelong friendships. In other words, it’s summer camp the way everyone remembers it.”
As a musical artist, Tapper, 52, had long harbored an idea to create a show about the overnight-camp experience. In 2022, she took the first steps after being motivated by an email newsletter.
“I knew I was going to write about camp, but I knew it had to be a comedy,” she offered during a recent phone call.
“I can be kind of funny, but there was a man, Steven Blutig, who writes “The Daily Camp News,” which is a weekly newsletter that’s been going out for the last 12 years. It goes out every week in the summer. It looks like a real newsletter. And it showed up on my email. And it was so funny.
“It’s so sarcastic. I couldn’t tell if it was real or not. It takes you a few readings, like, oh my God, this is like, made up? And I reached out to Steve, and I said, ‘Look, I want to write this musical, and I need it to be funny, and you’re really funny.’”
Blutig accepted Tapper’s invitation, after which she recruited a couple of friends, Robin Raskin, a screenwriter, and Emily Stumer, to join the project.
She subsequently ran into Peter Weidmann, who had worked at the camp she had attended in Green Lane, Montgomery County, Pa., when she was a child.
Although a lawyer by trade, Weidmann is also a musician and composer. When he agreed to join the creative team, said Tapper, “I knew we had a show.”
Tapper and her partners developed their material and occasionally tested it in front of small, invited groups. In July, 2024, “Cool At Camp” had its public debut at the Ardmore Music Hall in suburban Philadelphia.
As noted above, the Margate performance is a “staged reading.” That means that some of the actors — all of whom are in their mid-20s but portray 14-year-olds — read from scripts rather than reciting their lines and singing their lyrics from memory.
“It’s all part of the process,” reasoned Tapper. “We get new actors sometimes. We’ve had some actors that have been with us for two years, but if we get a new actor that’s only rehearsed three days, they need to hold the script.”
Of course, not everyone has attended overnight camp. But Tapper is confident her show will resonate with those who didn’t because, she noted, the play’s underlying themes transcend its specific setting.
All that matters, she insisted, is that “if it’s written well, and at the heart is a good story, and there are characters that you care about and that you can connect with — and anyone can connect with 14-year- olds just trying to feel like they belong — the audience will respond.
“We’ve all been there,” she said, “and that’s what this show is all about.”
Having created two other musicals, Tapper is a realist when it comes to her hopes and dreams for “Cool At Camp.” But she does believe it could find a professional home.
“It could be a really fun off-Broadway or off-off Broadway show; I do think it’s a very New York-centric show,” she said. “I think that’s where its audience lies. That would be a dream.
“I’ve lived in this world now; this is my third musical. It is very-near-impossible to [successfully launch] a new musical. But we hope that by doing what we’ve been doing, not only has it helped us get this show to where we’re really happy with the story and whatnot, but now we have great video and great photos, and we can go to theaters and we can say, ‘Look what we’ve done.’”
For tickets, go to coolatcamp.com/performances.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
