Everybody's Talking About Jamie - Teen Edition

It was a pleasure to visit Fylde Coast Youth Theatre (FCYT) for the first time and to welcome the society to NODA. This production comes at a special point in the group’s history as FCYT celebrates its tenth year of providing opportunities for young performers. Reading the programme, it is remarkable to see how the organisation has grown from a £250 council grant and a handful of students into a thriving youth theatre with its own studio and more than 60 young people attending each week. That commitment to young people was evident throughout Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Teen Edition, with plenty of enthusiasm on stage and a real sense that these young performers enjoy being part of the company.

With book and lyrics by Tom MacRae and music by Dan Gillespie Sells, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie gives a young cast plenty to work with, combining larger-than-life comedy with some much more tender and challenging moments. The story was always easy to follow and the company approached the material with commitment. Blackpool Sixth Form Theatre is a large auditorium and, with the audience at around half capacity on the performance I attended, it was a difficult space in which to generate the atmosphere that this particular show thrives upon. A number of the jokes received a surprisingly restrained response and there were occasions when I felt the cast deserved a little more back from the audience. I certainly found much of the humour very funny. To the cast’s credit, they resisted the temptation to chase the laughs and kept the story moving.

At the centre of the production was Rhys Cullen as Jamie, who gave a strong performance. Jamie requires more than confidence and flamboyance; we also have to see the vulnerable young person underneath, and Rhys handled both sides of the character extremely well. He was comfortable on stage, had a natural presence and delivered both the humour and the more serious moments convincingly. He carried a demanding role with considerable assurance and was one of the strengths of the production.

Letitia Moore as Margaret, Jamie’s mother, established a warm and believable relationship with Jamie. There was a lovely sincerity to her performance and she never overplayed the emotional moments. Letitia also possesses an excellent singing voice, which she used with warmth and sensitivity. The scenes between Jamie and Margaret worked especially well because they felt like a genuine mother-and-son relationship rather than two young performers simply delivering dialogue.

Bella James as Pritti brought a gentle quality to the role and made a sympathetic and supportive friend to Jamie. Her quieter manner provided a nice contrast to some of the bigger personalities around her, while her solo It Means Beautifulwas handled with sensitivity.

Lydia Cumpstey as Miss Hedge handled the teacher’s brisk manner well and brought a sense of authority to the classroom scenes. Daniel Wright as Hugo/Loco Chanelle gave an engaging portrayal of the character who becomes an important source of encouragement for Jamie, and he made the distinction between Hugo and his more flamboyant alter ego clear.

Niamh Moran took on the contrasting roles of Dean Paxton and Jamie’s Dad, giving each a different feel. As Dean, Niamh captured the character’s bullying edge without pushing it too far, while Jamie’s Dad required a colder and more distant relationship with Jamie, providing an effective contrast. Charlotte Barker as Ray brought a down-to-earth quality and some welcome humour to Margaret’s loyal friend.

The drag characters added colour and personality whenever they appeared. Kian Forsyth as Sandra Bollock embraced the larger-than-life nature of the role, while Malakai Thompson as Laika Virgin brought character to the group. Alfie Shaw, doubling as Young Loco and Tray Sophisticay, made the most of both roles and contributed well to the more theatrical moments of the production.

The company also included Emma Hartley-Melling, Alanna Morris as Bex and Featured Dancer, Kim Burns as Bex, Ava Fletcher Moss as Vicki, Evie Dewhurst and Alexa Cartmell as Becca, Emilie Parkinson and Rosie Cooper as Fatima, Alex Aleksejeva as Levi, Thea Bee as Ensemble and Featured Dancer, and Arthur Young as Young Jamie. As you would expect in youth theatre, the cast contained performers at different stages of their development, but there was good commitment across the company. The school scenes in particular benefited from the personality of the young ensemble.

Vocally, the principals were generally secure and the ensemble numbers were performed with energy. As their experience develops, greater confidence in projection, harmony and maintaining the same performance level throughout an entire number will strengthen their musical work further. Credit should go to vocal coaches Robyn Westgate and Maisie Brook for their work with the company.

The production used backing tracks rather than a live band and the cast appeared comfortable working with the fixed tempos. The musical numbers generally flowed naturally from the action and continued to move the story forward rather than feeling detached from it.

Caitlin Moran’s choreography gave the company plenty to do and brought welcome energy to the larger numbers. It was well pitched for a cast containing performers of different ages and levels of dance experience, allowing the stronger dancers opportunities to shine while ensuring that everyone could take part comfortably. The featured dancers, including Alanna Morris and Thea Bee, added considerably to the larger sequences.

Director Debbie Parkinson knows her young company well and there was much to admire in what she had drawn from them. The central relationships were clear, the storytelling was uncomplicated and the cast appeared secure in what they were doing. There were some lovely individual moments and Debbie had clearly worked hard to ensure that everyone had an opportunity to contribute.

The production generally maintained a good pace, although there were occasions when transitions could have been tighter. On a couple of occasions the stage was set and ready for the next scene, but the character required to begin the action was not yet in position, resulting in a slightly awkward pause before the scene could start. These were only brief moments, but smoother coordination between scene changes and entrances would help maintain the flow. On a stage of this size even a short pause can feel longer, so a little more attention to these transitions would help the production feel more assured overall.

The area that would perhaps benefit most from further development was the overall visual presentation. The theatre has a tall performance space and, with a relatively minimal set, there were times when the young cast appeared somewhat isolated within it. Nathan Anderson’s set provided what was necessary for the action, but a little more visual detail would have helped to frame the performers and create greater distinction between the various locations.

This would not necessarily require an expensive or elaborate set. Additional dressing, different levels, banners, lockers, furniture or carefully chosen splashes of colour could make a considerable difference. These elements would help reduce the amount of empty space surrounding the performers and give the production a more complete visual identity. Costumes brought welcome colour and individuality to the show and helped establish the various characters, with the more flamboyant elements particularly effective.

Sound was handled by Debbie Parkinson and was generally good. It was unfortunate, however, that not all of the performers with spoken lines or solo singing were individually mic’d. This meant that some voices were inevitably less audible than others and occasionally affected the continuity when moving between amplified and unamplified performers within the same scene or musical number. In a production such as this, where dialogue and lyrics are so important to the storytelling, ensuring that everyone with featured material can be heard would make a noticeable difference. When microphones were in use, the sound was clear and the balance with the backing tracks was handled well.

The lighting, by Evee Dix, was simple for much of the production, with many scenes played under straightforward white lighting. Given the height and scale of the stage, a wider range of lighting states could have helped create atmosphere, direct the audience’s eye and give the different locations their own identity.

One moment that demonstrated this particularly well was Pritti’s solo, It Means Beautiful. As Bella sat on her bed, the more focused and atmospheric lighting created a lovely intimate stage picture and complemented the tenderness of the number very effectively. It showed just how much could be achieved within this large space when lighting was used to frame a performer and support the mood of a scene. I would have liked to have seen more of this approach throughout the production, with greater use of colour, focus and contrast in some of the other musical numbers.

It is also important to recognise just how much work goes on behind a youth production such as this. Alongside Debbie Parkinson’s direction and sound, Caitlin Moran’s choreography and the vocal work of Robyn Westgate and Maisie Brook, Orna Murphy Horton took on the role of Stage Manager, supported by stage crew Jacob Tidswell, Katie Turner and Gerad Boylen. Evee Dix was responsible for lighting, Nathan Anderson for the set and Charlotte Barker for photography. Together, they formed the wider team behind the production and helped support the young company on stage.

This was an enjoyable first visit to Fylde Coast Youth Theatre, with some strong individual performances and plenty for the company to build upon as its young performers continue to develop their stagecraft.

What came across most strongly was the sense of a genuine youth theatre community. Reaching a tenth year is a significant milestone and FCYT should be proud of the opportunities it continues to provide for young people to perform, develop their skills, gain confidence and make friendships through theatre. There was a great deal of hard work evident both on and off stage, and I hope the entire company feels proud of what they achieved together.

Congratulations to Debbie, the production team and the entire young company, and a very warm welcome to NODA. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the group and look forward to seeing Fylde Coast Youth Theatre again.

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