Review by: Paul Towers, 20 September 2021
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie by Dan Gillespie Sell, Jonathan Butterell and Tom Macrae
A Sheffield Theatres Production
At Curve: 20 – 25th September 2021 and touring
“the perfect uplifting, joyous musical we need to prove that theatre is back”
I saw the original London production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie back in 2018 and loved it. Last year I was really looking forward to seeing the touring production with Layton Williams and Shane Richie but Covid threw a spanner in the works. So I was thrilled to see it being one of the first touring shows to reopen Curve and I wasn’t disappointed. In fact it exceeded my expectations.
Layton Williams has been to Curve in all sorts of productions over the years but his Jamie New has made him the star he was always destined to be. Alongside him is Shane Richie giving a surprisingly good turn as ageing drag queen Hugo and his alter ego Loco Chanelle. Jamie’s best friend, Pritti Pasha, is played by Sharan Phull and is a welcome returning artiste. A vocal friend of Curve, Shobna Gulati, surprises everyone as the foul mouthed, say-it-as-it-is, surrogate Aunty to Jamie, Ray. While Amy Ellen Richardson as Margaret New, Jamie’s supportive mother Margaret, almost brings the house down with her rendition of He’s My Boy. George Sampson, winner of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008, has fun playing Jamie’s nemesis, Dean Paxton, who finally sees the error of his ways.
The main cast are ably supported by an ensemble of teen-looking singer/dancers and a trio of drag queens
The story, based on the BBC3 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, is of a Sheffield schoolboy who all his life wants to be a drag queen. The first step towards this is to go to his school prom in a frock. Understandably there are bigoted people, including his own father, who can’t accept that he is different. But, with the support of most of his school friends, and his mother and Ray, his dream comes true. I loved that there were many jokey references to Covid.
The set is almost identical to the West End one and the production values are just as high. A hugely talented and energetic cast make this the perfect uplifting, joyous musical we need to prove that theatre is back.
While it was very obvious that Curve had put in all sorts of protocols to ensure audience members are as safe as possible it was very disappointing to see that a large number of the audience refused to wear masks despite the many reminders on screens and via audio announcements.
Curve https://www.curveonline.co.uk/
http://ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk/
https://tinyurl.com/JamieTour
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