Noah Galvin Can’t Believe His Luck

Name: Noah Galvin

Notable past credits: Galvin played the title role in “Dear Evan Hansen” after Ben Platt left the show, and stars in the TV show “The Good Doctor.”

Sundance project: “Theater Camp,” which he wrote with best friends Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman (who both directed) and Platt, who also happens to be Galvin’s fiancé. The movie, which sold to Searchlight for $8 million, is a mockumentary about a fledgling theater camp and those who run it. Galvin stars in the film as well, playing the behind-the-scenes manager Glenn.

Seeing the film come to life at Sundance: “It felt like the culmination of what is essentially eight-plus years of work and friendship and relationship building. And slowly trying to work my way out of the box of just being an actor and doing so hand in hand with my fiancé and two best friends was just such a f–king dream. Excuse my language.”

How they learned the film sold: “Basically, the festival calls the filmmakers. Our two directors, our two first-time feature directors Nick Lieberman and Molly Gordon, they were called first. And then they called Ben and I over FaceTime and they were just beaming, smiling ear to ear, Molly jumping up and down. It didn’t take very long to figure out what was happening, even though they were trying to be secretive about it,” Galvin says. “Maybe it’s my half-Jewish, half-Catholic guilt, but I’m looking over my shoulder waiting for a loved one to pass away suddenly here.”

The genesis of “Theater Camp”: “The genesis is friendship. Eight years ago, almost nine at this point, I met Molly doing a workshop of a musical called ‘Alice by Heart,’ written by the ‘Spring Awakening’ writing team. She was what I like to call my first adult friend. We both had chosen not to go to college and just to start working instead. Things were going sort of well for us, but not exceptionally well for the two of us. We had both been acting for a very long time. And we were both at the age of 19 or 20, realizing that we wanted to do more than just be actors,” Galvin says. “Meeting Molly, she sort of opened up my eyes and opened up my world a little bit. And she was like, ‘Yes, let’s make something, let’s write something.’ And I was like, ‘Whoa. I never thought of myself as anything other than just a musical theater performer.’” 

Playing his character Glenn: “I think that we often don’t give voice to the behind-the-scenes people, the crew, the tech people, the stage managers, the lighting people,” Galvin says. “So, I wanted to play a character that just felt like a different flavor, something that would spice things up a little bit and also give voice to the voiceless.”

© Provided by WWD Noah Galvin