Stagedoor Manor

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Stagedoor Manor (brochure photo)

Stagedoor Manor is a performing arts summer camp located in upstate New York. The camp was founded by Carl and Elsie Samuelson in 1975, along with artistic director Jack Romano and Jacqueline Ferber. It was the inspiration for the 2003 independent film Camp written and directed by Stagedoor alumnus Todd Graff. Stagedoor was also a subject of a 2006 documentary by Alexandra Shiva. ^[1]

Stagedoor Manor is located in a former Catskills resort (Karmel Hotel) in Loch Sheldrake, New York that was redesigned in the 1970s. The camp consists of several theatre spaces, the two largest being the Carl and Elsie Samuelson Theatre and the Jack Romano Playhouse. Other theatres include the Carousel, the Cabaret, the Merman, the Forum, and the Garden Forum.

Each summer, Stagedoor Manor holds 3 three-week long sessions (starting in late June and ending in late August). Enrollment for each session ranges from two to three hundred campers. During each three-week session, the camp produces 8 musicals and 5 Dramas.

In 1999, Stagedoor Manor staged their own version of Carrie - The Musical, despite the fact that amateur performing rights never were released for the show. To the initial surprise of those involved, composer Michael Gore and Book-writer Larry Cohen found out and attended one of the performances.^{[citation needed]} (Lyricist Dean Pitchford refuses to have anything to do with the show, authorized production or otherwise.^{[citation needed]}) While Gore castigated Stagedoor for producing the musical without permission, having enjoyed seeing the show with its re-worked ending and a real teen cast, he allowed the run to be completed.