Cam Jansen, The Musical, Clicks Into Place

I'll happily admit it: I loved David A. Adler's Cam Jansen books when I was a kid. Not only were the stories fun to read, the eponymous heroine ranked right up there with Nancy Drew as an antidote to most females in books of the day. In most children's books, at least in the early-and-mid '80's, girls rarely did much of anything except serve as girl Fridays to adventuresome boys, or sit and wait to get rescued by boys. Either way, most girls in the books I was reading were pretty dang lame. It was wonderful, then, to have a heroine who not only didn't need a boy to rescue her, but was proud to be smart and different from her friends. Cam Jansen was a role model for me, so you can just imagine my joy when I heard that the brilliant creators of the camp (and surprisingly dramatic) neo-classic Bat Boy had created a new children's musical based on Adler's books.

And, for the most part, the musical Cam Jansen delivers the goods. Bright, cute, and clever, this is not only a musical that kids will enjoy for the sheer fun of it, it's a musical that has a truly good heart

Jennifer Jansen (the spunky Kate Wetherhead) is the oddball at her school: her photographic memory makes her different, and different means unpopular. But much as she'd love to be accepted, Jennifer refuses to hide her special talent, and soon discovers that her gift combined with her brain makes her a perfect crimefighter. Rechristened "Cam" (for camera), her success as an amateur sleuth earns her the fame and popularity she's wanted, but also runs her the risk of losing the one friend who stood by her when she was just Jennifer.

When a valuable jewel is stolen from the local museum, Cam's old and new friends band together to find the thief, and the mystery, surprisingly, becomes the musical's weakest angle. The book, while very charming and cute, does not have the strength of the music either dramatically or structurally. When the story shifts from Cam's societal problems to the mystery, the show seems to lose its edge, and begins to drag. The strength of the show clearly lies in Cam's emotional growth, but the bulk of the dialogue is spent on solving the less-than-involving mystery. Fortunately, if their book isn't terribly strong, Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe's score keeps the show exciting and lively with clever songs that both advance the plot and reveal character.

The cast, all adults playing people of various ages, does very good work as ensemble members. Kate Wetherhead is bright and spunky as Cam, nicely working with the adolescent insecurities that plague this otherwise confident heroine. Miguel Cervantes, blessed with a name that bears much living up to, easily makes one forget that he is an adult, bounding across the stage with great youthful enthusiasm as Cam's best friend Eric. Farah Alvin sings very well as the school's sycophantic popular girl who only cares about Cam's fame, and David Josefsberg is very funny as the Rajah of Pajamastan. Jamie LaVerdiere, in a variety of roles, shows off his skills with accents, and gets to do some nice comedy work, and Jill Abramovitz does her funniest shtick as Cam's flight-attendant aunt who accompanies the kids as they crack the case. (One might complain about the old-fashioned stereotypical view of flight attendants, but this is a comedy, so we'll ignore that and just smile at Ms. Abramovitz's dizzy delivery.)

Luke Hegel-Cantarella's set is simple and wonderful, transforming easily with the addition of a few props into a multitude of locales. (Much credit must always be given to a set designer who respects the imaginations of children.) Jody Ripplinger's choreography is energetic and modern, quite apropos to the pop score and the ways real kids dance these days. Gordon Greenberg's direction doesn't waste a moment, and keeps the energy up throughout the show.

As Stephen Schwartz, Meridee Stein and Pam Koslow said back in September, children need theatre that speaks to them on their level, and engages their imaginations. How wonderful, then, to have a spunky, exciting new musical that deals with issues to which kids can relate... and, perhaps, to which their parents can relate, too.