"Everybody's Talking About Jamie"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" is a coming-of-age stage musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells, from the band The Feeling, and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. The musical is inspired by the 2011 British television documentary "Jamie: Drag Queen at 16" and is based upon the true-life story of 16-year-old schoolboy Jamie Campbell, as he overcomes prejudice and bullying to step out of the darkness into the spotlight and become a drag queen, and also gets to go to the school prom dressed how he wants to dress.

The original musical made a star of Layton Williams, who went on to TV success in the comedy "Bad Education" and is one of the competitors in this year's "Strictly Come Dancing".

I watched the TV documentary and loved it. You have to admire a young person who wants to change the way people see certain things and fights for what they believe is right, breaking down prejudices along the way. This is one reason why I love this musical, and after seeing it for the first time last year, fell in love with the whole ethos surrounding the show, as well as the show itself.

Ivano Turco plays Jamie New and very quickly he wins everyone in the audience over. He has attitude and pathos and he drags you along for Jamie's journey through every high and every low - not that we need much dragging. Ivano has plenty of experience character acting, singing and dancing and he brings that experience to this show. there are some wonderfully sad moments where we really get a sense of what Jamie is going though, especially with the song "Wall In My Head" and "Ugly In This Ugly World". Love the chemistry between his Mum and Ray, and he made you want to go to prom night with him. How can that man walk in those heels though? That skill alone makes him a quadruple threat.

Rebecca McKinnis plays Jamie's Mum, Margaret New who unconditionally supports Jamie, even covering up her ex-husband Wayne’s disappointment of how their child turned out. I wondered where I had seen Rebecca before and when I got home, I realised that she had been in Peter James' "Wish You Were Dead". I love this character, she is really human. I also love this woman's voice. There is a song in this musical called "He's My Boy" and that song just gets me every single time.

The other massive song for Margaret is "If I Met Myself Again" and what makes this section even more stunning is the fact that there are two dancers performing a contemporary dance routine which just told the story of the song perfectly. I was completely transfixed by the pair of dancers and listening to Rebecca's voice.

Wayne New, Jamie's homophobic and absent father, is played by Akshay St Clair. You don't see too much of this character, and there is one scene where Jamie goes to thank his Dad for what he had done for him, and this is where Jamie finds out what his dad is really like and what his true feelings are for him. The whole auditorium was in silence at this piece. It takes a good actor to make an audience react either positively or negatively and the silence reflected their feelings. Akshay St Clair succeeded in his character's disgust of his son, and the audience's disgust of Wayne New's attitude.

Talia Palamathanan is Pritti, Jamie's best friend. She understands what Jamie is going through as she is also picked on for being Muslim. Talia has an incredible voice, as highlighted in the song "It Means Beautiful". I love the jaw dropping outburst from Pritti in the prom scene. Pritti by name and very pretty by nature.

Hugo/Loco Chanelle is played by John Partridge. Hugo owns a drag shop and, under the name of Coco Chanelle, was a former drag artist, becomes Jamie's mentor. I have had the pleasure of interviewing John in the past and can confirm this man is one of the loveliest actors around. On stage you see two sides of John. As Hugo he is a down to earth Sheffield drag shop owner. As Loco Channelle she is a legendary star that shines as bright as the sequins on her fabulous costume. John has one of those voices that sound so good coming from the stage. It's full of power and emotion and tells stories in songs. He sounds fabulous. He looks fabulous. He has the most fabulous legs. He is fabulous!

Hayley Tammadon plays Miss Hedge, Jamie’s teacher, who has difficulty accepting his drag dream. With her hair up in a bun, those costumes that show off her hourglass figure and those red high heels, why did none of her male pupils not have the hots for her. And when that hair was loosened from the bun and she got up on the tables to perform a rap, well I had to gulp down half a bottle of the water I had with me. Hayley Tammadon is HOT!! Sorry, what I meant to say was that Hayley is an excellent character actor and she has a fine singing voice also.

Shobna Gulati, another soap favourite, plays Ray, Margaret’s close friend, who urges her to tell Jamie the truth about his father. Shobna knows this role back to front as she has played Ray in the West End. Oh, I love this character as well - are there any characters I don't reaaallly like? Ray is the sort of best friend you want to back you up, take the scene where Jamie and his Mum are called into the office to speak to Miss Hedge, and she told Miss Hedge that she boiled her p***. What a turn of phrase and Shobna delivered every line as if it was an off the cuff remark. I loved Shobna in Coronation Street and I adore her as ray because the two characters are so distanced. I've had the pleasure of seeing Shobna in several stage productions and loved them all, but this character is simply the best.

Jamie's bully, Dean Paxton is played by Jordan Ricketts. Jordan is good looking and that perfectly matches the description of Dean Paxton. But this bully was never gonna win an argument with Jamie because the characters are on a different cerebral level. Shakespeare once said "I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed", a quote that I love, and that perfectly fits Jamie and Dean's personalities. I also love the last scene with Jamie and Dean - go and see it, if you can get a ticket.

An incredible supporting cast, and how good was it to see that the actors playing the pupils actually looking age appropriate and not like grown ups dressed in school uniforms. A special mention must also be given to Anthony Gyde (Laika Virgin), Garry Lee (Sandra Bollock) and David McNair (Tray Sophisticay), the three Drag Queens at the Legs 11 Club.

Directed by Matt Ryan, this show is full on all the way. It's paced perfectly with the high energy scenes being just that and the slower more intimate scenes giving you time for the musical to breathe.

Anna Fleischle's Set and Costume Design are a game of opposites. The costumes are as fabulous and shiny as the acting and the set reflects the dowdy school classrooms of any Sheffield school. Then there is Hugo's shop, filled with glamour, gloss and glitter. We see the academics of the changing rooms for the drag queens and just a teaser of the opening of Mimi Mee's drag debut.

Loved the way the desks doubled as the back garden wall of Jamie and his Mum's home, as well as the domesticity of their interior. A very smooth transitioning throughout the scene changes by cast and crew as well.

Choreographed by Kate Prince. This show is high energy and the dance routines show this. There's flips and spins and leaps and jumps and just about everything thrown in, especially in the opening number "You Don't Know Who I Am", "Work Of Art" and "Everybody's Talking About Jamie".

Lucy Carter's Lighting Design really comes into it's own with the above big dance numbers, bringing a taste of the West End to the Nottingham stage.

The Sound Design is by Paul Groothuis, and this is the only part of the production that let the show down for me personally. The volume was too loud in the music numbers, at times it was almost like listening to a dub record where you hear the music and then get a snatch of the song and then it is drowned out. Some of the comic lines from the title song were lost completely in the volume of the music. The ballads though did not suffer from this drowning and that shows that with just a little softening of the musical backing, this show could have been absolutely perfect.

The Video design by Luke Halls was great as, not only did they hide the band, who were incorporated into the set above the stage, they provided a picture of the Sheffield estates in black and white, contrasting with the glam and the glitter of the drag world.

Theo Jamieson is the Musical Supervisor for the show. This musical is full of catchy songs with a message for us all. Songs like "You Don't Even Know Who I Am", "Spotlight" and the title track, will have you boogieing in your seats while the aforementioned ballads will have you reaching for the paper hankies. And what a fitting song to close the show with, also leaving everyone with a message that they can take home with them, "Out Of the Darkness (A Place Where we Belong)".

I'd like to think that I led the audience by getting to my feet before everyone else but maybe they all had the same idea, just that I was a split second before them. Without looking behind I just knew that this show received a full audience standing ovation. And well deserved it was as well. Tonight, and for the rest of this run, everybody will be talking about "Everybody's Talking About Jamie". Drag yourself down - or up - to the theatre this week and see what everyone is talking about!

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 30 September.