Fame

The Theatre on the Hill, St John’s, Marlborough

FAME follows the lives of the students and teachers of PA, a school for music, acting and dancing. Set in 1980’s New York, the play mainly looks at the negative impact that fame and fortune can have on young performers.

St John’s holds a lot of sentimental value for me, having performed in Footloose there a few years ago; it was lovely to see old school friends taking on leading roles and how far they have come on since then.

Strong performances were made by both Archie Fisher as Tyrone and Eleanor Smith as Serena. Sam Austen, who played Joe, shone with his remarkable voice, pure wit and comedic timing, at one point putting on a rather convincing Spanish rendition of “CAR…ARARA…ARARA….MEN”.

One of my favourite moments followed the cast creating a Spanish inspired dance routine, with dramatic red lighting and outfits to match the fiery atmosphere. Rosie Amos sang a strong solo with “In L.A.” revealing a rather fragile and delicate Carmen.

With such a huge cast and so many dancers this meant it was a huge challenge, with the complexities of changing scenes quickly and efficiently. The musical scoring of some of the songs is very complicated and I felt that the actors dealt well with this.

I always appreciate live art and it is nice to have an actual band alongside the action as it reminds you that it is live, rather than a recording. I appreciated the reality brought with this and it means you can adopt an “anything can happen” attitude.

A range of ages among the cast brought the whole school together for this production.

NIA POWELL

Cast

Bell, Emma Doyle; Carmen, Rosie Amos; Goody, Zac Symon; Iris, Sophie Little; Tyrone, Archie Fisher; Joe, Sam Austen; Lambchops, Katie Miller, Mabel-Josie Beer/Martha Duncan-Zaleski; Myers, Toby Kearney; Nick, Ben Scott; Schlomo, Charlie Melbourne; Serena, Eleanor Smith/Rosie Cook; Sheinkopf, Lloyd Clements; Sherman, Ellen Trevaskiss.

Acting Chorus

Millie Busby, Rory Cole, Bethan Crawshaw, Faye-Marie Dyke, Emily Lucas, Beth Mayer, Rhett O’Connor, Martha Sandison, Ele Spreckley.

Chorus

Tasha Ashbridge, Hannah Gibbons, Molly Grant, Charlotte Hawker, Ella Hayden-Tubbs, Lydia Haynes, Ella Sandison, Amie Shave.

Boys Dance Troupe

Olly Camp, Harry Doodes, Louis Edmondson, Josh Fellows, Bertie Jeffery.

Dancers

Ciara Beale, Darcy Brown, Ella Ford, Martha Gayer, Emily Giles, Ellie Goldsmith, Anna Howard, Georgie Hughes, Jasmine Jackson, Amelia Knights, Jess Light, Eleanor Mundy, Zara Newman, Kate Patterson, Hannah Redpath, Georgia Taylor, Flo Tomlinson, Jodie White, Sara White, Nancy Whitehouse.

The Band

Julie Row, Emily Staten, Simon Coles, Robyn Morley, Izzy Haynes, Frankie Grist, Joe Marletta, Benedict Edmondson, Jordy Rowlands, Joe Bishop, Max More, Holly Kenvin, Sean Ivens.