Dust off your legwarmers and be careful where you park your taxi because Fame The Musical has arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre.
Fame was a cultural sensation in the early eighties, with the 1980 movie spawning a hugely successful TV series and a string of hit singles including the iconic theme tune, writes Chris Gregg.
Unfortunately none of these songs feature in this musical which is disappointing, apart from Fame itself which appears in a querky latino version during the show and only really gets belted out in the encore.
For a musical which is all about talent, there are high expectations for the cast but there are some strong performances with high energy dancing throughout, a trio of live musicians who play along with the offstage live band and some powerful singing from a cast which features legendary diva Mica Paris as school principal Miss Sherman.
Her incredible vocals are underused in this show. There are also great performances from Hollyoaks star Jorgie Porter as Iris whose ballet performances with Jamal Kane Crawford as Tyrone are beautifully executed.
Any Dream Will Do runner-up, Keith Jack, plays Nick Piazza, the boy who dreams of being a serious actor. Stephanie Rojas steals the show as Carmen, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is her own worst enemy.
This touring version of Fame has very basic staging with all the action taking place in front of a wall of yearbook photos which change colour and light up to the music.
For the right hand quarter of the audience, though, the right hand wall of the set where some of the action took place was hidden behind the edge of the stage which was frustrating.
The themes in this show are as relevant today as they were in the eighties - prejudice, identity, pride, literacy, sexuality, substance abuse and perseverance.
But sadly the musical itself hasn't really stood the test of time. The songs are cheesy, dated and not exactly classics, and the script and characterisation aren't very satisfying with the plot stretched more thinly than the lycra.
This is a pleasant enough way to spend an evening but the excellent dancing isn't enough to make this show a 'classic' and it's a shame it hasn't been updated for its anniversary tour.
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