"Everybody's Talking About Jamie: Teen Edition".

Nottingham Arts Theatre Youth Group.

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

This musical has everything I hate; sexism, racism, bullying and homophobia. It also has everything that I love about a musical based on a real life story.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" is a coming-of-age stage musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. The musical is inspired by the 2011 British television documentary "Jamie: Drag Queen at 16". The musical follows 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.

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.

The "Teen Edition" is a full-length adaptation of the musical, modified for performance by teen actors. Specifically, vocal ranges and some elements have been adjusted for younger performers, but when it comes down to it, I couldn't think of anything that was omitted from the non teen edition.

To start with, let me pre-empt the review by stating that NO-ONE stood out for me in this cast. The reason for that is because EVERYBODY stood out for me in this cast.

I've now seen several productions of "Jamie" and every one has been fantastic, professional and local theatre productions. That could be because of the quality of the writing combined with the quality of the casts. This production is as iconic as every production I've seen.

There are two teams, which allow the major roles to be played by different actors and are split into two teams; Team Jamie and Team Mimi; on Wednesday night it was Team Jamie.

The role of Jamie New is shared between two young actors Preston Nash and Brogan Hayes. On Wednesday night I saw Preston. This is a massive role that shot Layton Williams to superstardom, and a role that is very different to anything that Preston has played previously. The singing, the attitude, the character, the swag and those heels! I have a pair of cowboy boots with a two inch heel which I can just about walk in a straight line in. Preston, and I imagine Brogan, will have put in many hours wearing those killer heels we see in the show to make sure that they are able to strut around the stage in, and look FABULOUS in them.

I have known Preston for quite a few years now and have seen his rise as a performer. This role is performed with excellence, singing and acting wise, and his Sheffield accent is spot on. He goes from strength to strength in his roles, and this one is going to take some beating. Brogan will have big heels to fill when he takes the role on, but, knowing what an equally quality performer Brogan is, I just know that whoever you see in this role, they are going to fantastic.

We do actually see Brogan dancing with Hermione during the song "If I Met Myself Again", and I can't remember the last time that I saw Brogan dance with such style and emotion. This show really highlights everybody's talents, and don't forget, they are the Youth Group, not the adult group.

Jamie's Mum, Margaret, is played by Mia Rathbone and Amy Flatman. Wednesday night was Mia's time under the spotlight. I absolutely adore the song "He's My Boy" and Mia, like every song that she has to perform, and I say "perform" because she does so much more than sing it. I first saw Mia playing the part of Cosette last year in "Les Miserables" at the Arts Theatre and was blown away with her voice. Tonight she blew me away yet again. She has incredible control and strength in her voice and delivers the songs with pure emotion, an emotion that she conveys in her face as she is acting.

Ray is Margaret's best friend and supporter of Jamie and his life decisions, and is played by Aether Ward and Scarlett Coleman-Smith. Wednesday night I saw Aether. Now, I know of Aether because I saw her last year as one of the competitors in Gedling's Got Talent when she sang "Cabaret", a name that I noted to look out for in the future, and here she is smashing this role as Margaret's best friend and supporter. I also remember her in the ensemble of Nottingham Arts Theatre's Summer School production of "Little Shop Of Horrors". Aether is a cracking little character actor and the chemistry with Mia in the kitchen sink chats was natural.

Pritti Pasha, who is Jamie's bestie, is another shared role, played by Esha Gidday. Pritti's big song in this musical is called "Beautiful" and that is the best adjective I can think of to describe Esha's voice. Pritti is picked on by the school bully and receives some extremely nasty comments from the school bully Dean, but she gets her own back in the second act.

Miss Hedge, the career teacher at school is played by Kate Russell and  Eliza Szejda. On Wednesday night Eliza played the part. I've seen Eliza in several ensembles from showcases to "Grease", "Kipps" and in panto, so it's really nice to see Eliza in a prominent role like Miss Hedges. It's possibly the first time that I have really heard Eliza's voice properly and I absolutely loved the rap section that she performed in "And You Don't Even Know It".

Hugo/Loco Chanellle is played by Jamie Adlam (Team Mimi) and George Young (Team Jamie). George's story telling in "The Legend Of Loco Chanelle" is excellent, but he really comes alive when in drag as Loco, and is quite unrecognisable. George is another young man who I've seen many times over the years, and with this role being so very different to what I've seen him perform in the past, he really makes you sit up and take notice. As Jamie says "Drag is fierce" and George brings the fierce to the stage and his performance. I would have loved to have seen Jamie in this role as well, but when you know an actor's ability and quality of work, you just know that their performance, while being personal to them, will also be just as amazing as the other actor.

Dean Paxton, Jamie's bully is played by Oliver Sheard. Dean is an obnoxious human, the sort you want to punch, Oliver is the opposite. I've mainly seen Oliver in showcases and ensembles over the past few years and, like Eliza, was great to see him in a principal role. He really gets into the character, and apart from some great character acting, Oliver also gets to show off some pretty impressive dance moves.

Jamie's Dad is disgusted and disappointed in how Jamie had turned out and made no bones about telling Jamie so. He is played by Jack Lamb, who again, I didn't recognise straight off.

I absolutely loved the roles of Becca and Bex, played by Sophie Benner and Kayla Burgess. The characters are fun and cheeky and this pair brought that out brilliantly.

A special mention must also be given to Lenny Brady (Laika Virgin), Zach Silcock (Sandra Bollock) and Jack Kent (Tray Sophisticay), the three, not so lady-like, Drag Queens at the Legs 11 Club. A fantastic trio of Drag Queens who also provide some lovely comedy moments, and all on heels. Connie Tegerdine (Vicki), Harry Merrick (Levi), Leo Capaldi (Cy), Samuel Bryan (Sayid), Liberty Whitehouse (Fatimah) and Jacob Jacques-Phillips (Mickey) as the kids in the supporting cast.

The ensemble/dancers who helped create that energy on stage are Darcey Adams, Emily Holder, Megan Holder, Christianna Gregory, Hermione Cumbers, Lexie-Mae Hart, Evie Jones, Rosa Lymer, Eloise Rees, Evelyn Johnson and Lotty Dumelow.

Directed by Abby Wells, this production is non-stop entertainment with every performance being nothing short of brilliant. If this is the quality of performance that we get from these young actors at this stage of their career, just think what they'll all be like in a few years' time, and with a quality Director like Abby behind them. Not one flaw in this production.

Musical Director is Jonah Williams so straight away you have the guarantee of excellence with all of the vocals. And that is what we got. A powerful band, headed by Jonah on shared keyboards which matched the vocals from this outstanding cast.

The soundtrack holds so many brilliant and catchy tunes, and credit for the cast because it's not the easiest to perform, the title track being a perfect example due to the various parts for various actors and the speed of the song. As I've said, my favourite is "He's My Boy" but I also love "If I Met Myself Again", "The Wall In My Head", "Spotlight", "Limited Edition", "Ugly In This Ugly World" and "Out Of The Darkness".

Co Choreographed by Lu Anthony, who also is the Drag Director, providing their invaluable experience in this field to the young Drag stars on stage. Jessica Royce is the other Co-Choreographer, as well as Production Manager. I looked at the little things like the way that the hands were turned out, especially during the opening number, and everything has been perfectly styled. The piece that Brogan and Hermione performed was as emotive as the song they performed to. What I also noted was that the quality and the energy of the dance performed by the young male actors were on a par with the female cast members, and that is something that you don't see that often in a group of this age group.

Sound design is by Rob Kettridge, another expert in his field, so seeing Rob's name in the programme guaranteed a great sound, which is what we had throughout.

Lighting design is by Ollie Read and George Wilson is the Lighting Operator. Two names that I respect in the field of lighting design and operation. I have just one very small negative. With the scene with Pritti and Jamie when they were in Pritti's room, it took about a minute for the spotlight to be focused on Pritti as she sung "Beautiful", and it would have been good to have that focus from the start. Opening night, so it's forgivable.

Stage managed by Evie Webster and Deputy Stage Manager Nigel Newton. They both know what they were doing which showed in the speedy scene and prop changes.

And finally, the costumes, wigs and make up. I think I can sum that area up with one seven letter word. Perfect.

That word is also the word I'd use to describe the whole evening, in fact the review could have just consisted of that one word, but why use one word when a few thousand would suffice, plus it gives me a chance to gush over some of my favourite young actors, who have so obviously put an enormous amount of time and effort, as well as love into their roles, so it's only right that I return that love of their work.

It's a show with mature themes, performed by a very mature and talented cast, and if you can get a ticket for this show, I strongly recommend you get one because the entertainment and emotional value of this production is through the roof.

 

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie - Teen Edition" is at The Nottingham Arts Theatre until Sunday 16 March. If you've never seen this musical previously, why not pop down and see what everybody's talking about!