I had a great time tonight at a concert at the Duplex that featured selections from Bunked! A Camp Musical. Never having had a summer camp experience myself, but having heard about it from those lucky enough to have done it, I know that summer camp is an environment ripe for drama, hilarity, and teen angst. This musical focuses on five camp counselors who, as the venn diagram on the programs illustrated, cross paths through varied relationships of love, lust, and unlikely friendship.
The concert featured a lot of familiar faces, but what I loved was that it really brought out the best in everyone’s voices. The songs that were presented were fairly mellow, but offered room for long runs of impressive rifts, the occasional falsetto, and belting where necessary. I thought that it fit the subject matter well—the music was sweet and optimistic, which I feel sets a good stage for a musical about the possibilities of summer. The mood was further enhanced by the presence of lanyard/friendship bracelet making materials at the tables and a couple of rounds of camp-related trivia.
I also have to say that I really loved the vibe of the musical’s writers, Alaina Kunin and Bradford Proctor. Their fun anecdotes about their process made the creation of this project seem very carefree and rather effortless. They cast their demo (as well as the concert, by extension) through performances in youtube videos, which I find rather apt and hilarious.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening of songs that I honestly can and will listen to over and over again. I look forward to seeing how this musical develops and hope to be around when it gets its first full production. With music as strong as it is, I can only wonder what the book is like. Check out the demos here. I highly reccommend Morgan Karr going to town in "Selfishly," but pick almost any of them and I promise it will be worth your time.
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