Everybody's Talking About Jamie

EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE (Teen Edition) … a musical performed by St Paul’s Players Youth on Friday 8th March, 2024 at Adlington Community Centre, Railway Road, Adlington.

Jamie New is a sixteen old who lives on a council estate in Sheffield.  Jamie doesn’t quite fit in, he’s terrified about the future, but Jamie is going to be a sensation!  Supported by his brilliant and loving mother and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the ‘spotlight’. This is a musical that centres itself around a true life coming of age story … inspired by the 2011 British TV documentary ‘Jamie’: Drag Queen at 16. From a book and lyrics by Tom Macrae and Music by Dan Gillespie Sells… this musical tells the true-life story of 16-year-old Jamie Campbell and his journey to becoming a Drag Queen!

The Production Team…  Lily Blundell (Director) and Harry Cohen (Assistant Director & Producer) were the people chosen to bring this inspirational story to stage… all I can say it that they obviously knew what they wanted and knew how to create it… be very proud you two, this was an amazing production, with an amazing cast!  George Baldwin (Musical Director) was in charge of an eight-piece band, who supported the singers well whilst bringing this upbeat score to life.  Lily Blundell had also taken on the role of choreographer and it was obvious from the results, that she’d spent a great deal of time on some cleverly devised and imaginative dance routines which played to the strengths of all the dancers which truly enhanced the show, be very proud Lily, amazing results!  

The Cast…. we had a cast of twenty-three… so let’s start, for a change, with the ensemble… Lilah Philpott played ‘Bex’, Matilda Pidd played ‘Becca’, Bethan Tattersall, played ‘Vicki’, Jake Newns played ‘CY’, Charlie Hardacre played ‘Mickey’, Darcey Locke played ‘Lexi’, Jocelyn Hart played ‘Becky’, Lucy Stevens played ‘Sasha’ and we had Cammy Walsh, Frankie Topham, Leah Stokes, Madison Young and Katie Houseman-Smith playing no named parts!  So, what makes a good show great?  The chorus, the ensemble… and these guys just gave us their all, from opening number to the ‘finale’ bows… they were engaged, they supported the principles ever so well even when out of the limelight… they always looked interested and involved… be ever so proud folks, great job!  The ‘principals’ also brought their ‘A’ game …  Alex Farrah played ‘Sandra Bollocks’ and ‘John’; we had May Upton playing ‘Laika Virgin’ and ‘Young Loco’; Hanan Arnold playing ‘Tray’ and the ‘Other Woman’; Ben Brooks did a great job with the two nasties… ‘Dean’ and ‘Jamie’s Dad’; Grace Anais played ‘Ray’ … the supportive, fun loving, best friend to Jamie’s mum and a second mum to Jamie… Grace did a great job with this role!  Daisy Jeffs took on the role of ‘Miss Hedge’…the tough, straight-talking teacher from Mayfield School. Daisy also did a great job … creating a believable character. Lucas Holmes, provided us with another great character in the form of Hugo, a ‘faded drag queen’ named ‘Loco Chanelle’. Hugo supports and encourages Jamie in his pursuit of becoming his own ‘Drag Queen’ and did a great job in creating his character. We’re then left with just three … but what a ‘trio’ they were!  I’m never one to ‘sit on the fence’ but selecting a ‘showstealer’ from these three was a real task … but choose I will and rightly so, the night belonged to a fabulous portrayal of ‘Jamie New’ by our ‘lead’ Seb Holbert. OMG… from his first entrance and opening song ‘And You Don’t Even Know it’ …. to his final ‘sassy’ exit… Seb just lived this part!  He oozed confidence, self-belief and left absolutely nothing on that stage!  We were taken on a journey of self-discovery… by a young man on top of his game… confident, assured, comedic, nervous, daring, bold, with wonderful stage presence, wonderful mannerisms and body movements … his dancing ability and his vocal range were amazing… be very proud Seb, this was a flawless performance by a very talented young actor!  Then we had Ebony William’s whose portrayal of ‘Pritti Pasha’ was outstanding!  ‘Pritti’ is Jamie’s supportive, kind, caring best friend who has her own difficulties to deal with at school being from a Muslim background.  Ebony created this totally believable character, another who took us on a wonderful journey of ‘self-discovery’ and ‘self-belief’.  Ebony oozed confidence, she has an amazing singing voice and amazing dancing ability… be very proud Ebony… outstanding!  That leaves me with just one… Eadie Gosling and her portrayal of Jamie’s mother ‘Margaret New’.  They say, leave the best till last, and if I’m honest, that’s not too far from the truth, because Eadie ran Seb ever so close for MY ‘showstealer’!  Eadie’s portrayal of Margaret the kind, loving, protective, devoted mother, who raised Jamie single handedly after Jamie’s father disowned them because of Jamie’s sexuality and whose new partner is now having a baby boy!  Playing a much older character surrounded by actors of your own age is difficult, but Eadie did it with great aplomb, creating another totally believable character!  Eadie was another that took us on a journey, an emotional journey, full of many highs and so many lows, but she always hangs in there!  Eadie was another that just oozed stage presence, she used her voice to convey her character perfectly!  Vocals… every time a song was sung, like Seb’s rendition of ‘The Wall in my Head’, then Ebony’s rendition of ‘It Means Beautiful’… I kept saying to myself wow, that’s the best in the show, but all that changed when Eadie came along with ‘He’s My Boy’ … goosebumps, a couple of trickling tears (and that wasn’t just me… there were a lot of tissues knocking around at that stage) … honestly this was another level, a highlight from the show for me… be ever so proud Eadie amazing job… from a totally amazing production!  

Staging/Set/Tech … an open stage with an impressive ‘light wall’ greeted us as we entered the community centre with the name ‘Jamie’ illuminated across it!  Below the light wall we had a painted ‘terraced street flat’ which separated and partly concealed the band who were located to the rear of the stage.  A simple set with simple staging and furniture was used throughout, which allowed for slick and effortless scene changes. Loved the idea of siting the ‘New’s’ household ‘off stage’ and below centre stage … not only did this offer/allow a greater flow to proceedings but it somehow brought the emotional family elements to the fore. Congrats to Steve Blundell and Jill Heeks (Stage Managers) and their crew … Barry Heeks, Alan Leyland, Joe Nickson, Dax Owen and Kamil Kupniewski, Howard Bates (Scenic Artist) great job folks.  Lighting/Sound were effective throughout aided /supported by some notable projection… congrats to Joanna and Natalie Sweet, Richard and Milly Cornes, Stuart Naylor and Steve Walkden (Videographer) on a job well done!

Band …  George Baldwin (Musical Director), with Ben Attfield (Keys1/Band Leader); James Eccleshare (Keys 2/Guitar); Theo Tambourini-Kay (Bass); James Threfall (Drums); Amy Gray (Percussion); Andrew Farrow (Trumpet); Sarah Dutch (Saxaphone) and Adam Dutch (Trombone).  The band did a great job, there were a couple of occasions when I felt they slightly overpowered the singers … but overall, they accompanied/supported the cast/singers very well and interpreted the music ever so well!

Wardrobe/Props… nothing looked amiss with the costumes, they were appropriate, effective and added to the overall production…. congrats to Rachel Hall who co-ordinated it all and to Karen Thompson-Butler (Dressmaker).    Props… were of excellent quality and again added to the overall… keeping an eye on them was Becca Hilton and Sue Heyes.  

Chaperones … one of the least glamorous jobs, yet one of the most important!  Chaperones are a ‘vital cog’ in the mechanism that allows young people to perform on stage!  They are the ones that provide the safe and welcoming environment that our young actors need to perform and flourish … so thanks to Liz Blundell, Jane McQueen, Harry Cohen, Lily Blundell and Kerry Newns… without you and similar wonderful people across the country, who give up their time in support of youth theatre … this could not happen… be proud!

Thank you once again St Paul’s for a wonderful show, thanks to Graham Cohen for looking after my wife and I and Andy McNicholas the NW Regional Councillor from NODA present that night.  Thanks to Lily and Harry for taking the time during the interval and at the end to speak with us… greatly appreciated… already itching to see Les Mis!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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