1:25pm Wednesday 2nd April 2008
By Charles Hutchinson
FAME, The Musical is not one of the greatest American musicals, but has all the ingredients to test its young cast.
Bev Jones's company of 40 is playing young performers chasing the same career dream, faced by tribulations on the learning curve.
As if to emphasise the point, when the set arrived last Saturday, it was bigger than stated, so dance numbers had to be re-jigged at the dress rehearsal.
The routines of West End choreographer Christine Adpinall, in her first affiliation with Jones's company, stand up to the reconfiguration, being full of energy, dexterity and panache, except for the tentative classical ballet scenes.
The street jazz and Flamenco numbers are as hot as chilli peppers, however.
Jones's experienced hand - the director and musical director has 400 musical productions to his name - first shows in his atmospheric, scene-setting overture, cut up with the sounds of the New York streets, before the company breaks out of a silhouette for the multi-coloured opening burst of Auditions and Hard Work on the students' first day at performing arts school.
The first familiar face to make his mark is Sam Coulson, whose singing voice is taking on more expression to catch up with his natural stage charm as diligent Nick. Iain Harvey's ebullient kid from the Bronx, Joe Vegas, quickly catches the eye too, while Emma Mill brings rather more subtlety to the initially awe-struck yet competitive Serena.
Neil Williams lacks nothing in confidence with his cockatoo red spikes and tattoos on his part-shaven head, and his streetwise dancer Tyrone is both hip and full of lip.
Fellow company newcomer Grace McCormick's drug-ravaged Carmen has the looks and the moves and could crank up the attitude another notch, and as her star crashes and burns, so Sam Wheatley's mouthy Mabel comes to the fore, belting blues voice and all.
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