Audiobook Friday: Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary

Release Date: 5/20/2008

About the Book: Theater camp changes everything. Sadye and Demi are two Ohio teens who are accepted to a summer theater camp. One succeeds, one is pushed in the background, but they both are in for the summer of their lives. The show must go on!

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Ok, I admit that maybe the reason I liked this one so much is that I spent every summer between 5th and 10th grade at Camellot Academy, a summer fine arts camp and learned dance, drama, voice, guitar, art and then worked on a musical every afternoon. And when I graduated out of camp, I returned and taught dance and drama for the Jr. Division (grades preK-3). I was also a total drama geek in high school and did pretty much any show I could.

So maybe my own drama experiences made this one more enjoyable. I knew the shows they were talking about, I knew people like the characters, I knew how crazy drama camp can be (although my camp was nowhere near as competitive!) I also listened to this one on audio, which I think makes it stand out thanks to the excellent narrator. Kate Reinders played Glinda in the Chicago production of Wicked and she's been in touring companies and Broadway productions galore, so she knows her stuff. I think having a narrator who is close to the theater world makes this work so well on audio. She does a great job giving unique voices to each of the characters, but she also understands what makes them tick, and that comes through in her reading. Check out this sample of the audiobook.

I read some reviews that found Sadye annoying, but mostly I felt bad for her. She's smart and sassy, but isn't the star she wishes she was. She talks back to her instructors, but really, I thought her instructors were a little crazy and sometimes they deserved it. They were so caught up in how they've always done things and wouldn't listen to a new idea.

The only thing that really bugged me about this book was the ending-it felt a little rushed and I don't know how much resolution I really got. But other than that Dramarama is a fun look into the theater world.