Review: Fame! The Musical by Leigh Academy Minster at the Sheppey Little Theatre
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 15
It seems odd that a whole generation has grown up without having watched the original Fame! television series or film.
Now there is Fame! The Musical, a shorter version often performed by schools which nicely deals with a range of common teenage problems such as love, learning difficulties, body insecurities and basically having to knuckle down to work.
The students of Leigh Academy Minster gave it their all for their end-of-term production over two nights at the Sheppey Little Theatre in Meyrick Road, Sheerness and brought the house down with whoops and cheers from the audience.
From the high-energy opening chords to the final, emotional ballad the talent, dedication and sheer passion on display were nothing short of breathtaking. Not even a few problems with head mics could dampen their enthusiasm.
For months, the cast had poured their hearts and souls into bringing the New York City High School of Performing Arts (PA) to life on the stage.
There had been weeks of rehearsals, endless hours of dedication and 'Hard Work' as stressed in the opening number.
Shannon Kent, head of performing arts at LAM, wrote afterwards: “We are so incredibly proud of every single one of our students. They all left their hearts on the stage and gave us performances we will never forget.”
You couldn’t really argue with that.
The play follows a group of youngsters determined to get their names in lights. It begins in 1980, which doesn’t seem so long ago to some of us although none of these performers were even born then.
It was Faith Louise Reilley as English teacher Miss Sherman who got the show on the road by entering from the well of the central staircase to warn her new students they were about to start a tough four-year slog.
“You got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs. And this is where you start paying in sweat.”
In the drama class the Shakespeare-obsessed former child star Nick Piazza (Josiah Hall) goes back to school to learn his craft properly and encounters star-struck Serena Katz (Ruby Rumbol). It leads to a heartbroken Serena singing Let's Play a Love Scene, a touching ballad sung beautifully by Ruby, exposing a moment which had the audience feeling for her.
But Serena does get her wish when the pair end up playing Romeo and Juliet after insecure Joe, hilariously played by Tyler Bridge, gives up the part of Romeo and Serena gets her long-awaited main role alongside Nick.
In the dance class the streetwise Tyrone (Israel Okpaire) is partnered with the classically-trained Iris (Ellie Abbott) who complains about his lack of knowledge and not taking school seriously. However, as the show goes on, the pair end up making an unlikely connection and become dance partners.
Miss Sherman is also concerned Tyrone isn’t taking his lessons seriously but fellow teacher Miss Bell (Lily Edwards-Woods) argues that his artistic talent is more important than his academic ability in The Teachers' Argument.
This duet was powerful, tense and deeply personal and showed how much both teachers truly cared about their students.
Miss Sherman later embarrasses Tyrone by making him read a Superman comic out loud in class but then realises he is suffering from dyslexia. He later bounces back by reading a passage from Leaves of Grass and winning over Iris.
Mabel (Dior Morley) is having problems in the dance classes because of her weight and prays for “God’s help” in Mabel’s Prayer, a hilarious, show-stopping gospel comedy number that had the audience in fits of laughter. Dior’s energy was joyous and infectious and completely filled the stage.
But the star of the show was flame-haired 17-year-old Elizabeth Turner Oates (currently studying A-levels in dance and performing arts, film studies and global politics) as the self-assured Latina spitfire dancer Carmen Diaz.
It is Carmen who leads the company in the rousing title track Fame!, a high energy dance number when Elizabeth performed some fantastic vocal runs.
Unfortunately, Carmen leaves the high school to fly to Los Angeles with Hollywood agent Elliot Greene.
Her friend Schlomo (Jesse Zemura) is horrified and pleads with her not to go.
This led to an emotional final number featuring Jesse singing with hardly any accompaniment. It was a raw and strong moment for the young actor who was then joined by the rest of the cast.
There were some nice touches at the end of each scene as drama teacher Mr Myers (Ryan Snow, who was also assistant director) insisted on taking an end-of-year photograph of the group.
Also performing were Amelia Elmes as Lambchops, Molly Hollywell as Goodman and Rosie Mitchell as Mr Sheinkopf.
The ensemble included Elizabeth Baker, Sophie Coulson, Mia Hurley-Sand, Benedict Kaylin Rera, Leyla Mawhinney, Evie McKinnell, Evie McKintosh, Emily Searle, Belle Servante and Naomi Woolley.
The show was directed by teacher Callum Brown. Sarah Williams was the musical director and Shannon Kent was the choreographer.
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