Everybody's Talking About Jamie

This was the first time I had seen a production of this musical, although I was familiar with the storyline.

Looking through the programme, prior to curtain up, I could see that the society had put together a talented cast, with several familiar faces. I was therefore very much looking forward to what promised to be an enjoyable evening, and I was certainly not disappointed.

Joe Baker was Jamie New, the boy who wears a dress for the school prom and dreams of being a drag queen.  Joe is an experienced musical theatre performer and his strong singing voice really did justice to his vocals, especially his solos which were beautifully sung. He did on occasions tend to rush his dialogue, mostly while expressing Jamie’s mixture of frustration and excitement, which, although understandable as far as the character is concerned, did mean we lost some of his words. That apart, this was an excellent performance.

Pivotal to the story is Jamie’s mother Margaret and Victoria Carey gave an absolutely superb performance of this single mum who backs her son all the way, even giving him a pair of shiny red shoes with vertiginous heels for his sixteenth birthday.  Her solo “He’s My Boy” left hardly a dry eye in the house. The tumultuous applause which followed, said it all. Very well done.

A lovely performance by Ella Owen as Jamie’s best friend Pritti, always there for him and encouraging him to just be himself.  Aylin Turner as Ray brought some lovely comedic moments to the story.  As Margaret’s best friend, she was always popping in and out with a tale to tell and bringing a smile to everyone’s face.

Dan Baker was an encouraging force as Hugo Battersby and terrific as Loco Chanelle in the most wonderful dress and wig.  A quite amazing transformation.  Teacher Miss Hedge was well played by Nicola Bentley, softening her stance and allowing Jamie to attend the prom in a dress.  The show had a strong supporting cast including Jasper Sullivan as Dean, the school bully and Gareth Barton as Jamie’s absent father, initially disowning his son.

Shane Sykes must be congratulated on his sympathetic handling of the script in this, his directorial debut, while also finding time to get into drag queen mode. Sarah Matthews’ choreography was good and imaginative, with dance numbers being well carried out, including a nice solo by Dance Captain Grace Barry. All the musical numbers were very well sung, so praise must go to all the singers. This was also a well costumed production with some amazing outfits.    

Getting the balance right to enable the singers to be clearly heard over the music is never easy in this venue and there were times when the band, although providing good accompaniment, seemed overpowering. Fortunately, this did improve somewhat in the second half.  Sound in general was very loud resulting in the dialogue being distorted and lacking crispness. My colleague, who accompanied me, was of the same opinion. This was a shame, but I am no techie, so do not pretend to have the answer. 

Light boxes were used to very good effect as the basis for the set.  Set changes were frequent but carried out swiftly by crew and cast. 

The whole cast was obviously enjoying being in this uplifting and at times very emotional story teaching us how important it is to always be true to yourself.

Thank you for inviting me and for your hospitality and to the Director for taking time to speak with us after the show.

Congratulations DTC.  You really pulled it off.

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