Everybody’s Talking About Jamie At The Lowry Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

Last night we had a fabulous evening watching the smash hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which started it’s UK tour this week at The Lowry Theatre, Salford. The venue was packed and there was a great atmosphere inside the theatre. There were plenty of staff on hand to guide us through from the ticket office to our seats and everyone was friendly and helpful. This was the first time we had visited since the pandemic and we found the electronic ticket system was very efficient, meaning you didn’t need to queue for tickets on arrival and we were soon comfortably sitting in our seats waiting for the show to start.

Based on a true story the musical is about Jamie New, a sixteen year old boy who lives on a council estate in Sheffield. He doesn’t fit in with the other children and his dream is to be a drag queen. Supported by his amazing mum and friends, Jamie manages to overcome prejudice, beat the bullies and finally step out of the darkness, into the spotlight.

The large stage at the Lowry is filled with a sleek modern set, initially set up as Jamie’s year 11 school classroom. It easily transformed into Jamie’s mum’s kitchen, Hugo’s dress shop and other scenes from the story. Subtle projections onto the rear of the set help to enhance the mood throughout. The brilliant live band was hidden away in the top of the set, only on show right at the end, a shame really, although perhaps done to prevent distractions from the story unfolding below.

Being a modern theatre, every seat in the house has a great view of the stage and the seats are comfortable with plenty of leg room – even for a two and a half hour show.

The show has a large cast with too many great performances to write about but try, I will! Of course, Layton Williams was the star of the show, reprising his role from the critically acclaimed West End production. Not only was he a great singer with a stage presence that filled the theatre, I was amazed at just how easily he flew around the stage in his bright red heels – I wear heels every day and couldn’t have managed half of what he did!

The singing and music was absolutely brilliant and in our opinion the best performance of the night has to be Amy Ellen Richardson as Margaret New (Jamie’s mum) with “He’s My Boy” it was sung from the heart and it was obvious that the audience shared my opinion with the length of applause at the end of the song.

Another favourite of the audience was Shane Ritchie as Hugo / Loco Channelle, a former drag queen who helped make Jamie’s dream come true. He had a great voice and did a great turn as Lulu, looking pretty good in a frock.

The last two actors that I’ll mention are Shobna Gulati as Jamie’s mum’s friend Ray and Sharan Phull as Pritti, Jamie’s school friend. Their talent is obvious and both added plenty of humour to the night.

Everything about this show is fantastic with the writing, music and a great cast coming together to give a fabulously over the top show, just what you expect from a real drag queen – bright, colourful and energetic and of course shoes to die for!!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tickets cost from £24.50
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is at The Lowry, Salford from 1st September to 12th September, for more information or to book tickets visit https://thelowry.com/ or call the box office on 0343 208 6000