Jonathan Wysocki’s debut feature Dramarama is about the last summer after high school, after the curtain has fallen in the high school auditorium for the last time, just before the cast is about to split up and head their separate ways, everyone going off to college to pursue their dreams. Gene (Nick Pugliese) has decided that this last night, at a murder-mystery dinner-party sleepover thrown by his friend Rose (Anna Grace Barlow), will finally be the night that he tells his friends he’s gay. Over the course of this one consequential night, secrets are revealed, relationships are tested, and Sondheim references abound.Dramarama 2020 Full Movie Download
Dramarama was one of my most-anticipated titles at this year’s Outfest, because I grew up a drama kid, exactly the sort of closeted theater geek that Gene is, desperate to tell my friends who I was before it was too late… Even though, c’mon, everyone already kinda knew. We were exactly the kind of theater kids who had murder-mystery dinner parties, too — highly recommend it, by the way. So, going in, I hoped to see myself in Dramarama the way we all hope to see ourselves on screen at a festival like Outfest, which is meant to represent the broad spectrum of LGBTQ+ people in ways mainstream cinema often ignores.I am happy to report that Dramarama is everything I hoped it would be and more. The central cast of five friends are all delightful and recognizable. Rose is the flamboyantly theatrical one, off to NYC to attend NYU, where she’s sure she’ll be a star. Ally (Danielle Kay) is perhaps a bit too cool for this group and sees them all better than they see themselves. Claire (Megan Suri) is the repressed one, not even sure she likes acting but just happy to have friends. And Oscar (Nico Greetham)… well, more on Oscar in a bit. The 1994-set screenplay is quippy and fun without relying too much on references. It’s all in the delivery: “I read it in Tiger Beat; boys love honesty!” says one friend with authority.