Review of Fame Jr. by R&D Youth Theatre/Young Company at Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton

Despite very much being one of the in things when I was growing up in the eighties and definitely seeing on occasion, Fame wasn't really for me. However via theatre of the last four years, I have learnt to love musicals of various kinds more, and the R&D youth company and its companion young company via Sweeney Todd, Honk!, Cafe Crescendo and Oliver! have helped that development.

For 2017 they presented two versions of the same play, the junior version of Fame, it runs for just a compact hour, and while they were dialogue wise the same, directorially and performing was very different. It offered in two days a great opportunity to see the same thing, differently. Even during the opening it was clear that the different nuances were going to be fascinating to look out for, the opening scene sees the students preparing to discover if they have made P.A., and in the young company version the cast clutch their notes and pray to them, while the youth version sees them hidden in their pockets only to be snatched out and opened at song end. If all this sounds a bit of a pointless spot, it isn't, as in reality, it shows the strength and ability of a director to bring life to their pieces in their own way.

The hour is not only filled with these little moments, it also allows across the two shows, different characters to become more prominent depending on those playing them. From the youth theatre version, I particularly loved Troy Anderson gloriously over the top Joe Vegas, full of brilliant enthusiasm and a totally satisfying performance. Likewise, Libby Moore totally captured the persona of Ms Sheinkopf, staying in brilliant character throughout and perfecting the glasses on the end of the nose styling offering great amusement. My final pick from the youth theatre has to be Megan Heavisides-Bell quite scary Miss Sherman, playing the role for me with quite a different feel from Melissa Coulton-McCullough's version in the young company, I was quite glad I wasn't one of her students.

Moving onto the older group of the young company, and the departing Ryan McLean brings a lovely final performance to the role of Nick Piazza, and together with Robyn Wilson's lovely Serena Katz, they made a wonderful pairing. Morgan Charles also creates a bold interpretation of Carmen Diaz and shows some great dance skills as well. Also buzzing with great character is Oskar White's awkward but confidence building portrayal of Schlomo Metzenbeum. Unquestionably for me though the most captivating performance came from Emily Abraham and her really superb turn as dancer Mabel Washington, she is clearly one very much to watch in the future.

The staging and direction from Trudy A Bell (Youth) and Ashley Elbourne were kept simple in the Underground space leaving the actors to do their thing, and while there were a few issues regarding whereabouts you sat, you were never truly far from the action. I did learn though the best spot to be after the first performance and it paid off with a much better perspective on the action.

Fame Jr is actually a highly entertaining hour of music and dance which surprised me as to how entertaining it was. Catchy tunes, well performed by the whole of the cast and full of the usual enthusiasm expected from the young groups at Royal & Derngate.

Performance reviewed: Young Company - Friday 7th July/ Youth Theatre - Saturday 8th July at the Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton.

Fame Jr ran at the Royal & Derngate until Saturday 7th July 2017.

For further details visit the Royal & Derngate website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre

Richard O’Brien’s anarchic, surreal, and often incomprehensible musical, The Rocky Horror Show , has captivated audiences for over fifty years now. With this new tour, it feels as fresh and unpredictable as if it had just emerged from O’Brien's vivid imagination yesterday. While another review might seem unnecessary given the countless dressed-up fans who fill every theatre it visits, let’s go ahead and write one anyway. The Rocky Horror Show follows the adventures of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple. On a dark and stormy November evening, they run into car trouble and seek refuge at a mysterious castle reminiscent of Frankenstein’s. There, they encounter the eccentric handyman Riff-Raff, the outrageous scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, and a host of other bizarre characters. What unfolds is a science fiction B-movie narrative that is at times coherent and at other times bewildering — yet somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter. I first saw The Rocky Horror Show in 2019 and exper...

Review of Dial M For Mayhem! at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Middle Ground Theatre has been creating unique and intrepid adventures for the stage since the late eighties, and with Dial M For Mayhem! , they take those experiences and bring to the stage a brand new play within a play now arriving for a week run at Royal & Derngate. Written by Margaret May Hobbs and directed by Michael Lunney, Dial M For Mayhem! has much to admire. Still, sadly, for every good joke, amusing set piece and chaotic moment, there are too many periods of flatness, stilted sequences and, especially during the first act, too many slow scenes which either tread the same old ground or bring nothing new to the proceedings and then fail to flow into the next leaving it often disjointed. The cast does their very best, though, and the characters they bring to the stage are entertaining and perfect for this farcical play, but they lack depth despite the script trying desperately at times to give them one. The attempt to create character also comes at the expense of the farc...

Review of Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors at Milton Keynes Theatre

It is now a remarkable 32 years since the first Horrible Histories book reached the shelves, and since that first Terry Deary book, suitably for this show, The Terrible Tudors , the children's entertainment franchise has become a historic event of its own. Since 1993, there have been 23 books, several TV series, a game show and a film. During those years, the Horrible Histories franchise has also graced the stage for several past shows, and here, now at Milton Keynes Theatre, comes a joint pairing of Terrible Tudors and Awful Egyptians on alternating performances. The question though, is it a deserving part of the famous franchise? A categoric yes is an answer to this neat, fast-paced show, written by original writer Terry Deary and directed by Neal Foster, who also co-wrote the show. Performed by a cast of three, it entertains and thrills throughout. The level of comedy scares, and, most importantly, education is pitched perfectly, as the series has become famous for. The cast...

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