Fame – Stage Experience At The Alexandra Birmingham,Review

Reviewed by Julie Hayward

What an incredible musical theatre production! The first thing that struck me was how huge the cast was, with the full company of over 70 cast members on stage, I don’t think I have seen that many people on a stage before. The second thing that surprised me was how young they all were. The Stage Experience is an opportunity provided by The Alexandra, for young people between the ages of 9 and 24 from the West Midlands, to take part in an amateur musical theatre production, that would rival any professional show playing on The West End. I must admit that I didn’t do my research prior to seeing the performance and at no point did I think it was anything other than a professional production. The quality of the singing, acting, dancing and choreography is second to none. How this was achieved with only three weeks of rehearsal shows how talented these young people must be and how amazing the team at The Alexandra are to believe in them.

I remember seeing the film Fame! back in the early eighties and the T.V series that followed, being a young teenager then, for me it was all about the exciting dancing in the school corridors, in leotards and leg warmers, but the darker story line had passed me by. The Stage Experience manages to do both, the iconic dance moves and the “Fame” title song are all there, but as the main characters emerge from the sea of cast members, they tell their own story and tackle topics that teenagers can relate to today and some that are thankfully now taboo.

There is also a lot of humour, ‘Can’t keep it down’ is performed by Louis Goode who plays Joe Vegas, a randy adolescent, it’s very funny and just a little bit cringe worthy, but he did make us all laugh.

Overall, the enthusiasm from the dancers is amazing, the ensemble manages to remain coordinated yet let individuals shine, the Dance Captain Emily-Violet Haywood, was so characterful, she deserved a bigger part. Jack Baggot was also a brilliant dancer; all are very accomplished and you can see they have been dedicated to dance from an early age, at this point I want to shout out all the ‘dance moms’ who made up much of the audience, they must be so rightly proud of their children, but they should also be proud of themselves because with out them and the dads and all carers who encourage, fund and take to lessons we wouldn’t have the stars and chorus line of the future, for us all to enjoy.

There were some powerful singers who must have a glittering career ahead of them; Laura Bryan who played Carmen Diaz, Freya Hancox who played Serena Katz, both sang wonderful solos. The ‘Teacher’s Argument’ was brilliantly performed by Molly Hopkins and Molly Ann Bache.

By the finale of Fame, we were all, stood up, cheering, clapping and dancing. The Stage Experience was a triumph, thankyou all for a wonderful night to remember.

Rating: 5/5

Fame – Stage Experience is at The Alexandra Birmingham from Thursday 25th August to Saturday 27th August 2022
Tickets cost from £19.15 subject to a transaction fee of £3.65

For more information or to book tickets visit The Alexandra, Birmingham Box Office | Buy Tickets Online | ATG Tickets    or call the box office on 0844 871 7615

The Alexandra, Suffolk Street, Queensway, Birmingham, B5 4DS