Jamie Youth Edition

Thank you very much for inviting me to your production of ‘Jamie. Prior to my visit to the final show of the run I had been seeing reviews and comments all over social media talking about how good the show was and boy did it not disappoint on my visit. Jamie is such a new and current musical that covers a topic so close to so many of the performers within your cast and this really was a time and moment for them to shout and share their story and be heard and the audience, they heard it and they listened and they loved every minute of it.

Jamie tells the true story of a year 11 boy from the north of England who dreamed of one day becoming a drag queen and was subsequently banned from attending his school prom wearing a dress due to the bigoted views of a minority of people within the community. Jamie made the decision to still attend wearing a dress but instead of as his drag alter ego he went as himself. When the teacher refused him entry his classmates together made a stand in support of Jamie.

Set

The set, built in-house by the team at Wranglers, was effective. It was mostly made up of flats around the upstage area which could then be rotated to reveal additional set for key scenes. The upstage left flat rotated to reveal the home kitchen of Jamie and Margaret, Upstage right rotated to reveal a bathroom area. The centre of the upstage area was fairly empty in order to allow for projections to be displayed throughout. These projections were effective and helped to quickly establish a new environment displaying either a garden scene or a classroom. A great deal of thought was given to the projections and the video for Loco Chanel was excellent. Other scenic items included a number of rectangular boxes that were easily moved to become a garden wall or seating areas within the school. Scene changes were well rehearsed and executed primarily by. The cast which enabled for the action to continue seamlessly throughout. 

Choreography

The choreography was excellent and well suited to the cast. All members of the cast were well rehearsed and the choreography was well executed. The opening number was excellent.

Lighting

The lighting throughout the production was effective. All scenes were lit quite naturally and allowed for all members of cast to be seen clearly. Specials were used at key moments such as solo numbers to highlight key performers with spotlights.

Sound

Most of the cast wore head-worn radio mics which really made a huge difference to the overall sound delivered and. Allowed every single word to be heard clearly. The songs were all sung to backing tracks which adds a level of challenge meaning every single performer has to be spot on with their timing throughout. Every single person was well rehearsed with their songs and the overall sound produced was excellent. “Wall in my head” was a particularly good number that sounded fantastic. “If I met myself again” was a stunning number and well delivered.

Costume and Makeup

Costumes were well considered and effective. Naturally most of the costumes were school uniforms which were all nicely matching. The drag queen costumes were good and showed a variety of different styles. Jamie’s High heel shoes were well chosen to be a big feature.

 

Additional comments

This was a fantastic show with so many amazing things to talk about. Jamie was a strong performer who truly did an exceptional job in leading a strong cast on the journey of self-acceptance and being more accepting of those around us. This truly felt like the performer was facing up to his own challenges and delivering a performance dedicated to all those around him. The friendship between Pretti and Jamie was strong, believable and genuine. Pretti was a talented actress who portrayed the role of a kind and caring. Friend to Jamie very well. Hugo/ Loco Chanel was a. fantastic performer with an exceptional voice. The scene between Hugo and Jamie when they first meet was an excellent scene and was fantastically well delivered. Margaret’s friend Ray was a very good actress and her interactions with Jamie were strong.  Margaret was a fantastic performer. Convincing and full of the fire of a protective mother. Margaret certainly had the vocals to back up her performance too and her rendition of “He’s my boy” was outstanding. It was full of emotion and really sold the battle of a mum desperately trying to protect her son. This song nearly brought many people to tears in the audience.

Every member of the cast have worked incredibly hard to deliver a phenomenal show. Accents were clearly high on the priority list in rehearsals and were well done.

 

Well done to every single person on an excellent production and something g that every single member of the cast should truly be proud of.

 

Kind regards

   Ryan Procter

   District 3 Representative

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