A film that opens with George Benson’s “On Broadway” definitely gets off to a good start.
And yes: For the most part, writer/director Tim Federle’s endearing teen fantasy achieves its modest goals. This is a fairy tale for young theater nerds, and while the first act is a bit ragged, the story — and its talented title character — easily win us over in time.
That said, the relentless “Disneyfication” is quite distracting. This appears to be a world dominated on stage and screen solely by other Disney efforts, which is rather boorish. The Mouse House may desire world domination, but they could be more diplomatic along the way.
At low ebb, with everything apparently going wrong, Nate (Rueby Wood, center in green)
stumbles across a busking band that happens to be playing — what else? —
"On Broadway."
Anyway…
Thirteen-year-old Nate Foster (Rueby Wood, in an energetic film debut), a small-town kid, has long nurtured massive Broadway dreams; alas, nobody else shares his view of his own talent. His parents are quietly tolerant; older brother Anthony (Joshua Bassett) is horrified to discover that Nate attends school wearing — gasp, shudder — lip gloss.
The story opens on what Nate assumes will be his big day, with the newly posted school play cast list granting him the starring role in a musical about Abraham Lincoln. Instead, to his horror, he’s relegated to an ensemble part.
As a tree.
Disappointed beyond words, he’s all but immune to the comforting words of best friend Libby (Aria Brooks), who counsels patience and calls him out at the slightest whiff of a bad attitude.
Ah, but Libby also has Big News. A hot-shot New York director is mounting a Broadway musical adaptation of the 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch (ahem), and has announced an open casting call for the mischievous, blue-furred title character. Better still, this will take place on the same upcoming weekend when Nate’s parents will treat themselves to a spa experience … and therefore won’t be home to monitor their sons’ activities.
Libby has it all worked out (well, mostly). They’ll claim sleepovers with their respective parents, then hop a red-eye bus for the long trip to Manhattan. Once at the casting studio, everything will fall into place … right?
Well, no. Predictably.
