Fame The Musical – Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury and Touring

Keith Jack and Molly McGuire in Fame The Musical at Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury

Fame The Musical continues at the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury until 1 December 2018 and then on tour.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

In the early stages of watching this revival of Fame The Musical, I began to wonder how much it would connect with teenagers today nearly 40 years after the period in which the show is set. But it doesn’t take long to realise that many of the growing pains experienced by these young hopefuls attending NYC’s High School of Performing Arts are just the same as those members of ‘Generation Z’ (post-millennials) are going through – heightened of course nowadays by an avalanche of social media.

The yearning for fame and fortune, or a ‘serious’ career in the arts, has hardly diminished either. Just check out X Factor on a Saturday night or the stream of would-be performers queuing up to apply for drama school.

So this stage musical based on the award-winning 1980 movie – conceived and developed by David De Silva – still has plenty going for it, even if there are flaws to navigate along the way.

By necessity, librettist Jose Fernandez, lyricist Jacques Levy and composer Steve Margoshes spend a good deal of Act I establishing all the different students’ personalities and talents. As their conflicts, insecurities and desires are revealed, the hope is that we will begin to care about their lives and engage in the situations they encounter.

The only problem is that all of these scenes are played out at such a pace, that it is sometimes hard to get involved, and the blandness of some of the numbers doesn’t help either. In other words, director/choreographer Nick Winston and the principal performers are giving it their all, but the material itself isn’t always up to the same level. (There are a few exceptions, though, not least the high-energy ‘There She Goes’ and the touching ‘Let’s Play a Love Scene’).

It’s a whole different state of affairs in Act II. The better quality of the material appears to also give the production a lift and thanks to Winston’s often excellent stagecraft (as he juxtaposes the demands of different art-forms), together with some fine acting, vocals and musicianship, the evening ends on a truly satisfying note.

There isn’t a great deal of time for the cast members to establish their onstage relationships but they are very successful in doing so. It’s rather touching to see Keith Jack’s Nick realise his feelings for Molly McGuire’s Serena as they rehearse Romeo and Juliet and both also produce some of the best vocals of the evening.

Much of the natural chemistry between Jorgie Porter, as Iris, and Jamal Kane Crawford, as Tyrone, is nicely played out in dance, but there is also a tenderness about their dialogue and the way the latter’s struggle with illiteracy is handled.

It is Mica Paris’ Miss Sherman who helps Tyrone with his predicament and sings of her love for her students in the rather inspiring ‘These Are My Children’. It is during this scene that Paris seems most comfortable, but the kind of assurance she reveals here is not so evident in her dramatic exchanges.

Albey Brookes’ laddish but warm-hearted Joe and Hayley Johnston’s very likeable Mabel, who changes from dance to drama so she can stick to her ‘see food diet’, offer some light relief while Alexander Zane and Louisa Beadel provide some welcome live musical accompaniment along with several other members of the cast.

Most moving of all though is the unlikely relationship that develops between ambitious firecracker Carmen (Stephanie Rojas) and the quietly talented if a tiny bit rebellious Schlomo (Simon Anthony). While both impress musically, it is the connection the two actors make and the heartbreak that follows that stays with you beyond the final curtain.

As the students make the journey from audition to graduation, we see their faces in the headshots illuminated via designer Morgan Large’s effective backdrop. It accentuates the fleetness of fame, but for now this cast should be pretty proud of majorly contributing to Selladoor’s good quality touring production.

Lisa Martland