I don't know what image youth theatre conjures up in your mind.
For me, it's stilted class plays with musical accompaniment on the recorder
and an out of beat triangle - an endurance feat for even the most blinkered
doting parent. Well, Sands Theatre Arts School currently present "Fame
- The Musical" with not a school drama performance cliché
in sight.
The OFS is the perfect location for youth theatre - intimate but professional.
The enthusiastic actors, ranging in age from a mere seven years old all
the way up to eighteen, presented the musical version of the hit film
and TV series at first tentatively but with growing confidence. And despite
one or two problems with microphones, all the vocals were clear (even
if at times drowned out by the band), though given that some of this group
of teenagers are obviously more interested in acting then singing the
standard was variable.
At times the storyline of a bunch of college kids at drama school in New
York City dealing with academic and personal pressures seemed staid (along
with one or two of the actors, but playing in front of a crowd is nerve-wracking
for the best of us and an enormous deal when you're in your teens) but,
that said, some of the youngsters really shone, finding a natural place
on the stage. In particular watch for the performance of Alistair Fyvie
as Tyrone Jackson, whose grace and poise on the boards in the first half
(both dancing and acting, delivering lines with the confidence of someone
who is highly capable and obviously enjoying what he is doing) was accompanied
by the surprise in the second act of just how good his voice was. And
on the subject of voices,
Hazel Galbraith
as Serena Katz delivered a consistently
impressive level of singing for the whole evening, easily stealing the
show on the vocal front with tone and sustain that some professionals
would kill for. In fact, I’d say that the show is worth going to
simply for a chance to see this pair of young actors prove beyond any
reasonable doubt that you don’t have to be paying taxes to have
genuine stage presence and talent to match. As well as these two solo
performances, watch for the well-performed Nick Piazza (played by
Michael Betteridge) / Serena double act which delivered the best kiss of the evening,
the fifth of a number of stage snogs that varied in believability from
genuine passion to hormonal embarrassment (teenagers never change eh?!).
Also of note was
Vicki Hathaway
playing Carmen Diaz who seemed to come alive
halfway through singing the title track in the first act and remained
on that impressive other gear for the rest of the evening.
One suspects that like a good wine the cast, as they did progressively
through the evening, will improve with time and that a seat on Friday
or Saturday night would be worth you opening your wallet for, if for no
other reason then to see a bunch of kids with talent and enthusiasm have
a go at living forever. The director and producer Sandy Bowen should be
proud that his charges have delivered another worthwhile effort that proves
there’s more to youth theatre than some badly-delivered Shakespeare.
It’s not Bugsy Malone, but there’s always next year…
Peter Ould
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