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Abi Finley stars in Fame! - a review!!I recently caught ‘How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria’s Abi Finley in the UK tour of Fame. Abi was much better than the ‘Maria’ program ever demonstrated. Her voice was stunning with an indescribable quality. She hit every note and sang with believable emotion throughout. Her acting was excellent, her accent great, facial expressions funny and her comic timing impeccable-she really is a funny girl!! She had a wonderful presence on stage and I couldn’t help but watch her. The development of her character (Serena) throughout the show from nervous and fidgety to confident was very convincing. ‘Think of Meryl Streep’ was amazing and a highlight of the show! Madalena Alberto (Carmen) really showed off her talents singing ‘In LA’. singing with such sensitivity and emotion and acted through the song so well that I was close to tears. Sophia Nomvete (Mabel) was very funny with excellent comic timing. Her singing was superb and ‘Mabel’s Prayer’ was fantastic!! Debbralee Wells (of Channel 4’s Musicality’) as Miss Sherman sang the show-stopping song ‘These are my children’ incredibly well. She is also a great actress. Sorelle Marsh (Miss Bell) had a lovely voice, there was something I really liked about it and it was a real shame we didn’t get to hear more of her singing. Nick Hayes (Nick) had a lovely voice and acted very well. He is certainly far more than just a fool with make-up on his face! Carlton Connell (Tyrone) was a brilliant dancer and a good actor. Lucas Rush (Joe) was very funny with great stage presence and comic timing. Leanne Pinder (Iris) was a wonderful dancer and a convincing actress. All other cast members gave excellent performances and were clearly talented but their roles didn’t really give them much chance to shine. Most of the characters are not given much of a story and did not seem to develop much though the course of the show. The dancing was highly impressive and the level of energy and enthusiasm was amazing. The group effort of the whole cast worked together extremely well. Although Fame! is labelled a ‘fun’ musical, there are some sad and more upsetting aspects to the story. Many of the lyrics are more interesting than they initially appear to be. As a production it was very good, but some scenes flowed much better than others. The second half was the better half, with more atmosphere, emotion, and impressive solo numbers. At times the music was too loud and almost drowned out the singing. There was occasionally an off-key note or an accent lapse but these were barely noticeable. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening with an excellent cast of very talented performers who, given a chance and with some hard work will hopefully have a bright future…bring on tomorrow….. I can’t wait!!! |
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