"Fame Jr" by Erewash Musical Society Youth Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Set during the last years of New York City's celebrated High School for the Performing Arts in the early 1980s, "Fame Jr." is the bittersweet, but inspiring, story of a diverse group of students who commit to four years of gruelling artistic and academic work. With candor, humor and insight, the show explores the issues that confront many young people today.

This is the "Junior" version of the full length musical, so a lot of the grittiness of the original has been removed for a younger cast. Personally, I think the cuts that have gone into creating a junior version have been overdone, and while I can see the reason why some songs have been left out, and therefore the scenes that include those songs, they do remove some of the important stories, and therefore have reduced the stage time for some of the characters, and spoils the flow and continuity of the musical. 

For anyone who hasn't seen the full stage version of this musical, you probably wouldn't notice anything, but you have missed out on some excellent songs like "Dancing On The Sidewalk", "Tyrone's Rap", "Can't Keep it Down" and my favourite song from the musical soundtrack "These Are My Children". Nevertheless what was included was simply brilliant.

That said, Erewash Musical Society Youth Group have done a wonderful job with the junior script they have to work with. 

There was an interesting opening to this version where the announcement for videos to show the performing arts school students talents, followed by a selection of video applications, which looked wonderfully dated. This led to the opening of the envelopes by the students showing that they had been accepted into the Academy. This then led into the opening number "Hard Work".

Miss Sherman, the English teacher, is played by Jessie Gatehouse. Jessie  presents a wonderful air of authority over the students, especially Tyrone, and it's Miss Sherman who discovers something about Tyrone that was holding his English lessons back. 

Miss Bell, the Dance teacher is played by Myla Statham-Browne. This is Myla's first show with EMUS, but what a boon to the company. This young actor oozes confidence and is not afraid to let rip in character as she shows that she has her star pupil's back over Miss Sherwood. 

The argument duet between Miss Sherman and Miss Bell were executed with real passion and they both have the loveliest of voices for such young actors. I would have loved to have heard Jessie take on "These Are My Children" though.

Ms Steinkopf, the Music teacher, is played by Grace Sims. This role has been gender swapped, and the name slightly altered from Sheinkopf to Steinkopf. It's normally a male actor who plays Sheinkopf, but it's 2025 so it's nice to see things changed up a bit.

Eloise Chamberlain plays Ms Myers, the Drama teacher.

Carmen Diaz is played by Katie Chamberlain. Now I already know just how good Katie's voice is because she played the role of Christine in "Phantom Of the Opera" at Derby Theatre, and listening to her perform the gorgeous "Bring On Tomorrow" was a real highlight for me.

Jack Tuxford makes his debut appearance for EMUS playing Shlomo Metzenbaum, the student who is expected to live up to his violin playing father's fame. Shlomo and Carmen perform as a duo with Jack on the keyboards and Katie taking lead vocals. I wasn't sure if Jack was actually playing the keys on stage, but looking at the notes in the programme, he is a talented musician, playing guitar and drums - not at the same time though! 

Goodman "Goody" King, the trumpet player, is played by Noah Hickling and Rose Staniford, the drummer, is Grace "Lambchops" Lamb. In the "Jr" version of this musical, this pair had their roles reduced as the two others in the band formed by Schlomo. 

Elis Moore is Jose "Joe" Vegas.  Vegas is the comedy character and apart from the Romeo and Juliet scene, he didn't really have a lot to do. That is because Joe Vegas' main scene is when he performs "Can't Keep It Down", which I know may be just a bit risque for a "Jr" edition, but it's the scene where we get to really know Joe. That said, Elis really made his presence felt on stage, right the way to the final bows, making sure that his was the last face we saw as the curtains closed. This young man also has a talent for accents as well; his Bronx accent never lapsed and this gave rise to much of the comedy from the way that Joe spoke. So pleased to see that he has moved from the ensemble from the past couple of shows to take a main role. A good character and comedy actor in the making.

Mabel Washington is played by Gabriella Tilley. Mabel is the ever hungry student who has a gospelly solo spot in "Mabel's Prayer" near the end of the second act.

Toby Wykes plays Tyrone Jackson. Toby showed us his fire as the dancer who we discover has character as having dyslexia in the second act. He is a terrific dancer, but I would have loved to have seen him perform "Dancing On The Sidewalk" to show us more of his street choreography, and I'm certain that he would have been able to deliver "Tyrone's Rap" with fire also. It's not the first time that I have commented on Toby's dance skills, showing that he has been perfectly cast as Tyrone.

Iris Kelly is played by Lowri Moore. Iris is the ballet star in the dance class and the girl who Tyrone is attracted to. Even though Tyrone is told that she is way, way, WAY out of his league, Iris sees him as a dance ally and they end up performing together. A lovely graceful dancer.

Serena Katz is played by Eleanor Cooper. Serena is in love with Nick Piazza, in fact the character is overawed by the fact that Nick has appeared on TV and in commercials, thanks to his pushy mother, and Nick sees her as not being a serious actor, until she gets cast as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet". There's a lovely song that Serena sings called "Let's Play A Love Scene" which really shows off Eleanor's lovely voice.

Nick Piazza is played by Harry O' Boyle. I've noted in past reviews that Harry should be elevated to a main character role, especially after playing Cowboy Bob in EMUS production of "Footloose", so I am really pleased to see Harry play this character. I've watched Harry mature on stage in his performance skills, and this is his best performance so far.

The Dance Students were played by Lauren Hazeldine, Livvi Hickling, Sophie Forman, Lacey Swinburne, Izzy Cole and Yasmin Aldous.

The Music Students are Rosey Malins, Blake Hagen, Eva Woodcock and Jessie Jerram.

The Acting Students are Clarissa Armitage, Oliver Nolan and Theodore Goodwin.

The energy from that stage, as well as the infectious enthusiasm for everyone, was itself enough to light up the night like a flame.

Directed by Hayley Wood, who makes her Directorial debut with EMUS. The pace was relentless throughout and everything was kept so tight. I loved that energy that Hayley has injected into this show and that she has received back from this wonderful cast.

Choreographed by Lauren Riley. Lauren has not given her cast of dancers an easy ride with these dance moves, and that has really paid off. I absolutely loved the Latin routine at the end of the first act where the choreography for "There She Goes", which went into "Fame" was performed beautifully.

Musical Director for this production is  Gabryl Oleshko. Gabryl has done a brilliant job with this cast, and it's his hard work, as well as the vocalists that make this production such a strong show. The harmonies created by the cast are insane, and the solos and duets sound really good as well. The arrangements, some of them being new ones by Gabryl.

Sound design and operation is by Dave Dallard, assisted by Jack Clark. there was a time at The Duchess that I found myself playing the "critic" instead of the "reviewer" - there really is a difference - but of late, I have had nothing to be critical about. The sound was as clear as a bell and the missed mic cues have really been reduced to just one that I noticed on Friday night - but that is only because I was listening for them. A really good sound mix throughout.

Lighting design and operation is by Richard Chamberlain assisted by Dave Martin and Edward Mallen. Some really nice crisp lighting cues, especially when the spotlights switched from the various student groups.

Set Designers are Mark Robbins and Bill Robbins. An uncomplicated set design with props being transported on and off set by the actors, making the scene changes smooth. 

This young cast show a high professional regard for what they do on stage, and you know for a fact that they also enjoy the entertainment that they give their audiences by the noise they create when the curtains are closed at the end. An ending that came far too soon for me, as I was enjoying it too much.

"Fame Jr" is at The Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 8 February with a matinee performance at 2.30.