"Fame"

With many of the cast at exactly the same stage of their lives and in the same day-to-day circumstances as the characters they portray, this seems an obvious choice of show for this Society's youth group.  The difficulty with it is perhaps the lack of a real story; we are instead concerned with the lives of the various characters, in this case students at the school of performing arts, their relationships and progress through the school.  The task before the cast is, therefore, to enable their characters to engage with us through a song or a few lines of dialogue. In that respect it has some similarities to “A Chorus Line” a few years earlier but that show does seem to allow its characters a greater opportunity to arouse our interest and sympathies by sharing more of their past history with the audience.

The cast in this production made the most of what, in comparison, seem more limited opportunities to convey their respective personalities. Jaia Howland had the role of the ambitious Carmen, leading the cast in the well-known title song with confidence and enthusiasm and returning, despite her character’s tragic death, through the auditorium for its  reprise which forms the finale.  Estelle Rigby gave a convincing performance as Iris, a leading dancer, involved in an apparently on:off relationship with the difficult personality of Jack, portrayed as a somewhat aggressive character.  Only later do we learn that his behaviour appears to be his way of dealing with his dyslexia, which results in a certain lack of academic success. Calum Davis handled the complexities of the part well whilst Flynn Coultous had most of the comedy in the show as Joe, the teenager finding it difficult to control all his emotions. 

There were many fine performances amongst the supporting cast, particularly from Lana Harris and Declan Childs as Serena and Nick, a couple finally finding each other as they play Romeo and Juliet.  My favourite, however, must be Maggie Wakeling as the straight-laced English teacher, Miss Sherman, who, after momentarily losing self-control with Jack, realises the error of her ways in the song “These are my children”. Hers was a truly memorable performance of the song and, despite still being a college student in reality, in spectacles and tweeds here she looked every inch a formidable schoolma’am character.   

There were occasions when the “students” made their own music on stage but otherwise a 9-piece band provided tuneful support and the regular scene changes between the various departments of the school were slickly done.  There was some lively dancing in varied styles and the entire production was a tribute to the “hard work” mentioned in the words of the opening number.  No doubt the group’s director had a similar message at the start of rehearsals but it was all worthwhile.               

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