Ever since it first opened in 2017, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has been universally acclaimed for covering subjects like bullying, homophobia and racism in a sensitive, but very direct, manner and the opening number, “And You Don’t Even Know It”, quickly sets the tone for the rest of the show. With an energetic dance routine, accompanying a cleverly crafted song, the Year 11 class waste no time in allowing the audience to see their characters’ personalities spring to life, in all their unpleasant teenage glory!
Miss Hedge (Sam Bailey) is the careers teacher who bursts a few bubbles by telling the class that they are unlikely to be premiership footballers, Youtubers, film stars etc. and are more likely to have “real” jobs – although telling Jamie that he’s best suited to be a forklift truck driver is way off the mark – nobody could drive a forklift in those heels!
The “good” and “bad” in Jamie’s life are portrayed by Pritti Pasha (Talia Palamathanan) and Dean Paxton (Jordan Ricketts). Pritti gets to sing a fantastic song telling Jamie that, no matter what Dean may say, he is beautiful, and Dean is your typical “school bully”, with enough insecurities to last a lifetime hiding behind that cocky façade.
As Jamie sets out on his way to becoming a drag queen, he is helped by Hugo (Kevin Clifton), known in the drag world as Loco Chanelle, and three other professional drag acts – Laika Virgin (Ky Kelly/Anthony Gyde), Tray Sophisticay (David McNair) and Sandra B*llock (Garry Lee). They deliver some superb one-liners along the way, and absolutely shine when we get to the finale.
The show, as with the original documentary on which the musical is based, revolves around a teenager who decides, at the age of 16, that he wants to wear a dress to his school prom, and to be a drag queen. Jamie New is feisty and fearless on the outside but, behind the make-up, is still struggling with being abandoned and despised by his father (Akshay St Clair) and fears of how others will react to his life choices. As Jamie, Finton Flynn (standing in for the indisposed Ivano Turco) runs the gamut of emotions in his performance, taking the audience with him on a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, and is quite simply breath-taking in the role.
We see Georgina Hagen (replacing Rebecca McKinnis) playing Margaret New, Jamie’s mother. Abandoned by her husband, she does her best to shield Jamie from the reality of the situation by covering for his deadbeat dad. Like a ticking timebomb, as she lies more and more times, eventually her world explodes as Jamie finds out that she has been deceiving him. “He’s My Boy” is the very definition of a showstopper. Margaret pours her heart out in one of musical theatre’s most emotional songs, and Georgina gets suitably recognised for her amazing performance in the role as the audience erupts into applause as the last note drifts away.
The rest of the cast, headed up by the simply fabulous Sejal Keshwala as Ray, give perfectly rounded performances, offering us characters that develop as the show goes on, and that are so very believable. Add to that a fantastic score, played by a live seven-piece band, perched high on the very clever set which transforms from a classroom to a kitchen to a backyard and even to a toilet cubicle, and you have a faithful replication of the full, triumphant West End show.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is the ideal feelgood treat. It is as inspirational, thanks to Jamie, as it is tragic, thanks to his narrow-minded father, his jealous bullying classmate and a society that has come so far – but has so much further still to go. The enthusiastic applause at the curtain call is spontaneous, heartfelt and genuine because we all love to see the underdog win although, in those heels, Jamie is no underdog now!
**** Four Stars
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie appears at The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne until Saturday 4th May as part of a huge national tour.