Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Teen Eddition)

Just how Curtain Call can produce a show of this standard with just one week of intense rehearsals is quite incredible and will always leave me wondering how did they manage to do that. I have never been to any show where the entire audience has erupted into a standing ovation leaving the lead performer overwhelmed by the audience’s reaction.

The choreography delivered by Lucy Aiston in this production was crisp, sharp and next level with all performers beautifully synchronised in the delivery of the complex armography. The inclusion of contemporary duet during ‘If I met myself again’ was a lovely addition and helped to convey the emotion of the song.

Musical Director Richard Aaron must be extremely pleased by the vocal abilities of the cast against the robustness of the professional backing tracks. It’s always a difficult balance for sound (Daisy Wyatt) but every word was delivered with clarity.  I particularly enjoyed ‘It Means Beautiful’ sung by Pritti played by Kalia King, who was a little quieter in her performance compared with some of the other characters but a lovely contrast.

It was great to see well-defined characters in this production, which were maintained throughout, and I did feel sorry for Miss Hedge (the Teacher) played by Emily Godson when it came to controlling her careers class. I want to particularly mention Brandon Garner who is to be commended on his performance as Jamie’s Dad, this was a strongly performance, well acted and evoked a significant reaction by the audience. Mehmet Ongun as the acrobatic Sayid was both humorous, entertaining and had the most incredible facial expressions, the cheekiness of his demeanour radiated out even in the middle of the group dance numbers. The part of Dean Paxton was handled well by Euan Mellings as the schools homophobic bully and I was delighted when his character was put in his place but equally delighted in the shows resolution between Jamie and Dean.

The rest of the ensemble from the moment they appeared in the opening number of “And You Don’t Even Know It’ were energetic, well drilled and created a real sense of community.

I loved the simplicity of the staging of this production, large transparent windows at the back of the stage with a single entrance, windows edged with a swirl of rope lighting that pulsated and changed colour during the upbeat numbers and scene changes.  Larger props such as the kitchen had a large amount of detail and I really liked the cast interaction to the point of switching on the iron at the plug to commence the ironing, prior to the scene even starting. Scene changes ran smoothly and flowed easily which helped to maintained the slickness of this production.

Costumes provided by Curtain Call and Zachary Hollinshead were of great quality. Luey Pearce, who describes himself as the blonde kid who does musical theatre, as Loco Chanelle was terrific and managed well especially when his thigh high-healed boots became caught in his red flowing gown.

Tegan Dixon as Ray and Alicia France Evans as Margaret New (Jamie’s Mum) had been cast well, there was a great balance of humour and pathos, along with well-maintained accents. ‘He’s My Boy’ sung by Alicia was another memorable moment of the evening.

Jamie played by Charlie Yeomans, is a critical lead role in this show and requires the performer to sing, dance, make you laugh and make you cry. I don’t really need to say anything here because the reaction from the audience for this ‘one night only’ performance has said it all for me. I just wished that the company had been able to do more performances so that more people could have shared in the delight of this extraordinary performance. 

The show was loud and proud and Director Benjamin Connor made sure that everyone got the message without it being forced.

Well done to everyone involved in this production both on and off stage for creating such a fabulous and moving show. 

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