Calling all StageSiders, welcome back to another review here at StageSideUK. This time around we are talking about Jamie of course! Darlington Operatic Society took to the Darlington Hippodrome stage on the 1st May, to tell us all why Everybodys Talking About Jamie.
Disclaimer: I was gifted two free press tickets in exchange for an honest review of the show. All images featured were taken by Scott Akoz Photography.
Everybodys Talking About Jamie is a contemporary musical based on the BBC documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. The musical takes a look at the life of Jamie New, a teenager growing up in Sheffield whose dream career path is to become a drag queen. Jamie has the support of his mother and father figure Ray, but not his father.
Darlington Operatic Society have absolutely smashed it with this musical! The ensemble numbers were great, the acting was fab and the choreography worked well.
Directed and Choreographed by Joanne Hand, this production is slick, runs well and gives the professional show a run for its money. The lighting, sound and special effects also work really well to transport the audience to new settings.
The show runs on a split cast, and we had the opportunity to see Team Glitter.
The star of the show for me, and always will be is Margaret New, played by Emma-Louise Dickinson. Dickinson brings energy, emotion and gives the audience room for reflection. The power ballads are met with the vocal skill to match, and the ensemble scenes are acted, sung and danced with so much energy. A truly great performance.
Another great performer was Katie Spencer who played Miss Hedge. Those vocals in Work of Art were amazing, and Spencer completely owned the character in every scene, in every song, in every dance number.
Maddison Parkinson plays Pritti so well, offering some great vocal moments in Beautiful and as we get to the end of Act 2 some great moments, standing up for Jamie. Parkinson also dances really well, hitting every beat, every move and doing so in character at all times.
And of course we have Harrison Bateman, starring as Jamie New, the boy so nice, he came out twice. Bateman smashes the role, throwing riffs and runs at the audience, left, right and centre. Bateman’s performance reminds me alot of John McCrea’s performance in the role. Bringing a whole lot of sass, a whole lot of drama and bundles of energy!
The whole cast and crew do a great job of bringing this musical to life with some highlight scenes being the opening number, the opening number of act 2 and the finale.
Darlington Operatic Society have really raised the bar with this one and I think they have set a new standard for their shows going forward.
Their next show, Come From Away, is set to be a real highlight of the year and tickets are already available.
Value For Money
Tickets start at £20 for restricted view and go up to £23 for non- premium, non-restricted seats, offering a clear view and a great experience. The DOS show really gives the professional show a run for its money. At £23, this is a steal of a show! Truly worth the money and a great, camp, fun night out at the theatre.
Accesibility
The show is loud and contains bright lighting, sudden noises, swearing and themes of bullying, homophobia, racism and more. DOS do a good job at warning audiences of this prior to them taking their seats via posters in the theatre. The music also seemed to get louder throughout the night.
Overall
The show is great and really does offer fierce competition to the Professional show. The cast give it their all and bring their A-Game. DOS have really raised the bar and I am excited to see what they make of Come From Away.
For tickets or more information about the show you can visit the DOS website here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/darlingtonos/e-rrjzkr
Have your say!
Have you seen Everybodys Talking About Jamie? Let me know in the comments and let’s get a discussion going.
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Featured images have been referenced and are used in line with fair usage, in the copyright act.