Fame JR

11.30am Performance

Having previously seen ‘Fame the Musical’ the full length version, I was surprise when at the start  director John Butler commented that ‘Fame JR’ would last 1 hour 10 minutes and whilst watching  I wondered if the director had further cut it  to suit performances. Turning to my trusty advisor ‘the internet’ I discovered no, it hadn’t been cut, I had seen Fame JR in its entirety.

The cast of mixed age and mixed ability pupils from the Theatre School entertained with enthusiasm. Disappointingly there were quite a few empty seats, but I understood that the very small children who are usually present in WYT shows had give an performance a few weeks earlier, hence the lack of more mums and dads and family members in the audience.

Fame is a difficult show to present in a junior format. The strong story of the original is lost because   contentious moral issues are removed from the junior version. All you are left with is a song and dance show about young kids attending stage school.

This is fine for a theatre school presenting its end of year show... as a demonstration of skills learned during the year, but I did miss some of the humour and sheer fun of some of WYT previous shows, especially those written by John Butler.

The children all acquitted themselves well, especially a number of the principal performers who showed burgeoning talents. They were accompanied by a delightful sound from the small band, with their singing director offering encouragement. The costumes were attractive and the lighting complemented the action. The production team had obviously worked hard as the show was mostly double cast, so double the work. I am certain the afternoon performance delighted parents as did the show I saw.

The audience was most encouraging and judging by the applause and smiles from the children during the finale a good time was had by all.

 

 

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