Fame (musical)


Fame is a stage musical based on the 1980 musical film of the same name. It has been staged under two titles; The first, Fame – The Musical conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by José Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami, Florida. The second was as Fame on 42nd Street, where it was performed Off-Broadway at the Little Shubert Theatre on 42nd Street from 2003 to 2004.
De Silva had produced the 1980 film about students at New York City's High School of Performing Arts. The critically and commercially successful film was followed by a six-season television series, and the musical. The musical is significantly rewritten from the previous adaptations, with an almost entirely new score. The film is referred to several times in the script and in two songs.
It tells the story of several students who attend the school, among them fame-obsessed Carmen, ambitious actress Serena, wisecracking comedian/bad boy Joe, quiet violinist Schlomo, "talented but dyslexic" dancer Tyrone, determined actor Nick, overweight dancer Mabel, and a serious dancer, Iris, from a poor family. The popularity of the film has led to the creation of "FAME" Schools in Liverpool.
Since its first production, Fame – The Musical has had hundreds of professional and amateur productions in every major language.

US productions

The publishing company had advertised the scripts as being available later that year, but JHS Director Patricia Miller convinced them to let Jeff High produce the first performance. ACT 1 was sent unbound and mostly unedited, and subsequent parts of the play were sent 10 pages at a time.
In 1988, Fame – the Musical was the first professional production at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. It was written with a new score by Steve Margoshes except for the title Academy Award-winning song, "Fame," The original cast included Monique Cintron as Carmen Diaz, Joel Malina as Schlomo Metzenbaum, Janet Metz as Serena Katz, Tener Brown as Iris Kelly, and Harold Perrineau Jr. as Tyrone Jackson. Following this, the show ran at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 25, through April 29, 1989; the show was termed "a hit".
The Musical had a short lived West Coast premiere in May of 1994 at The Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. Directed by Runar Borge, Choreographed by Lars Bethke, Musically Directed by Steven Smith at The Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. The cast included: Jennifer George as Carmen Diaz, Yonah Kliger as Schlomo Metzenbaum, Farah Alvin as Serena Katz, Elkin Antoniou as Iris Kelly, Ron Kellum as Tyrone Jackson, Tony Spinosa as Joe Vegas, Steve Scott Springer as Nick Piazza, Denise Williams as Mabel Washington, Tracy Ray as Grace Lamb, Jim Vukovich as GoodmanKing, Pamela Ross as Miss Sherman, Patty Tiffany as Miss Bell, Elliott Goldwag as Mr. Sheinkof, Gregg Perrie as Mr. Myers
The musical had a US tour directed by Lars Bethke in 1999.
It ran Off-Broadway at the Little Shubert Theatre from October 7, 2003, November 11, 2003, through June 27, 2004, for 264 performances and 40 previews. Directed by Drew Scott Harris, conducted by Eric Knight Barnes, the cast included Shakiem Evans as Tyrone Jackson, Nicole Leach, Cheryl Freeman, and Christopher J. Hanke. Marque Lynche as Tyrone Jackson was a replacement. This version was titled Fame on 42nd Street.
A North American tour, produced by Phoenix Theatricals, began in September 2003 and played in 100 cities.
On May 9, 2019, a bilingual version of Fame The Musical directed by Luis Salgado opened at the GALA Theatre in Washington, D.C. to rave reviews from the Washington Post.
As part of MTI's Broadway Junior Series, a 60-minute version of FAME was developed for middle schools and published in September 2011. Since 2012 over 200 productions of FAME JR were licensed in North America. It has become one of the most popular shows licensed in the MTI catalog.

Other countries

European musical debut came in 1993 in Stockholm, where it remained for four seasons.
It premiered at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End in 1995, Miquel Brown originted the role of Miss Sherman. She can be heard on the Original London Cast Recording. The original 1995 London production was nominated for two Laurence Olivier awards in 1996, "Best Musical" & "Best Choreographer", but didn't win any. Since then there have been seven different assemblies in that city. Among the many performers who have participated include Noel Sullivan and Barbara Dickson. Fame The Musical returned to the West End for the 8th time and played at the Peacock Theatre with the 30TH ANNIVERSARY FAME UK TOUR on December 21, 2019 directed and choreographed by Nick Winston.
The first Italian version was held in Pavia in 2003 by Gigi Saccomandi and Luigi Perego. A year later Bruno Fornasari assembled it and toured throughout the Alpine country until 2006 was released.
In 1998 it was performed at the Teatro de los Insurgentes, of Mexico City, under the general direction of Jaime Azpilicueta, choreography of Goyo Montero and musical direction of Jorge Aguilar, in a montage that then would tour of Latin America, including Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Republic Dominican. Interpreted among others by Marger Sealey, Karin Aguilar, Alejandro Cervantes, Gianni Costantini and Antonio Melenciano.
Catalan version premiered in 2004 at the Teatre Tivoli of Barcelona4 led by Coco Comin, Ramon Ribalta and Oleguer Alguersuari.5 and interpreted by Xénia García, Sergio Alcover, Ferran Gonzalez, Rolando Amauri Reinoso, Damaris Martinez, Lucy Lummis and Sonia Callizo. This same assembly, but Spanish, was mounted at the Calderon Theater in Madrid in 2006, where permaenció one year, starting after a tour of Spain that culminated again in Barcelona in 2008, this time at the Apollo Theatre.6 mounting Castilian had something new in the cast as in the case of Dafne Fernandez and Brown Cristina.
In 2018 the 30th Anniversary FAME UK Tour began in Manchester and toured the UK through January 26,2020 ending at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London Dan Richards in his BLACK COUNTRY RADIO Review. Birmingham, states " This production of Fame The Musical is simply a masterclass in musical theatre from start to finish." De Silva filmed the last three performances of the 30th Anniversary FAME UK Tour at the Peacock Theatre in London so "that this brilliant production would not disappear from memory."
In October 2019 THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY FAME UK TOUR was filmed at the Peacock Theatre in London and streams on BROADWAYHD. http://www.famenetwork.com https://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat_new/d.php?id=2487611
Other countries that are represented include Germany, Brazil, China, Korea, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland and Thailand.

Plot summary

;Act I
A group of vibrant, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, energetic young people gather to audition to study at New York City's High School of Performing Arts.
Miss Sherman, the homeroom teacher, warns the freshman class that it takes a lot more than dreams to succeed at "P.A." The students acknowledge that it takes. Before Algebra class, Serena meets Nick Piazza, he explains his passion for the performing arts and tells her he wants his acting to move people emotionally. Mr. Myers, the drama teacher, asks them to think about how a physical sensation can trigger an emotional response. Joe discusses the physical reactions that happen whenever he thinks of a beautiful girl in dance class. Meanwhile, in dance class Tyrone can't get to grips with Ballet and states that he can do better, resulting in the whole class doing a hip hop dance. This makes Miss Bell see Tyrone's potential as a choreographer, so she partners him with Iris, a ballerina. Iris mocks Tyrone's lack of classical dance experience. Enraged at her comments, he begins a rap expressing his anger. Iris apologizes and confesses that she is not really rich, but scared and they share a kiss.
At lunch, Carmen, a self-assured, cocky Latina spitfire, asks Mr. Myers if she can skip class on Friday to audition for West Side Story. He tells her that it would just be another role for her to hide behind. Carmen, enraged, dreams of seeing her name in lights and people gasping as she walks down the street. The other students join in her fantasy and begin an exciting, electrifying dance.
Serena and Nick are rehearsing another scene and Serena confesses that she wants to try something romantic and passionate. Serena is in love with Nick, but Nick is mainly focused on acting. Serena laments her unrequited love. Afterwards, Carmen interrupts Schlomo while he practices his violin, giving him lyrics that she wrote for the melody he always plays. Schlomo tries them out, and changes some of the lyrics with Carmen, which results in Carmen joining the band. Carmen kisses Schlomo and leaves. Goody makes fun of Schlomo afterwards. In the hallway, Miss Sherman talks to Tyrone about his care-free attitude towards education. She threatens to keep him out of the Fall Festival if his grades don't improve. Miss Bell overhears and argues that Tyrone's artistic endeavors are more important than his academic performance. Tyrone storms off, threatening to drop out of school, and Miss Sherman reminds the gathered crowd of students of their academic commitments.
;Act II
The students begin their junior year with the P.A. Fall Festival.
At a dance rehearsal, Mabel, an overweight dancer, complains about retaining water, and other problems she faces with the size of her body. She confesses that, although she tries many weight-loss schemes and diets, she always goes back to the "Seafood Diet: I see food, and then I eat it!" She prays aloud for God's help in keeping her from becoming "the world's fattest dancer", eventually having an epiphany and deciding to switch her major to acting. Later, Nick congratulates Serena for getting the lead female role of Juliet in their junior show, Romeo and Juliet. Serena gets excited and assumes that Nick got the role of Romeo. However, she is surprised to learn that Joe Vegas has the role of Romeo and Nick got the part of Mercutio. Lambchops suggests that Nick is gay, and when Serena confronts him about it, Nick angrily replies that he is straight. Serena is so angry she decides to channel it into her acting. Carmen tells Schlomo of her plan to leave school and go to Los Angeles. She has met a Hollywood agent named Elliot Greene, who is sending her a plane ticket. Schlomo begs her not to go. He had seen her getting into Elliot's limousine and accuses her of using cocaine with him. Schlomo tells Carmen he loves her, but is left alone with his violin/flute/keyboard.
In English class, Tyrone is reading a Superman comic book. Miss Sherman catches him, and forces him to stand up in front of the class and read from the comic book. He accuses her of trying to make him look stupid. He then accuses her of racism. Miss Sherman slaps him in the face and, shocked by what she has done, runs off. Tyrone says to his classmates he doesn't need her help, or the ability to read or write - he is a dancer, and that's all he needs. Miss Sherman returns and apologises for her outburst. She reveals that she believes Tyrone may have dyslexia and offers him extra help, to which Tyrone refuses and storms off. Miss Sherman pleads after him not to give up on her.
The students rehearse Romeo and Juliet. Joe, insecure playing Romeo, has been ad-libbing. Joe starts to make fun of what he is saying, although is scared he'll mess up. Serena pleads with him to be serious in the part. Nick offers to show him how to play Romeo and winds up kissing Serena in their first romantic moment. Tyrone asks Iris why she has been avoiding him all year. She says she doesn't want to be tied to a loser. To show her that he is serious, he tells her he is repeating his senior year and reads a passage of Leaves of Grass to her. They dance a pas de deux and walk off together, hand in hand.
Carmen is standing in front of the school looking physically wasted and disoriented. She spots Schlomo and tells him the truth about her experiences in Hollywood. Carmen promises him that she will quit the drugs and get her GED. He gives her a couple of dollars and sadly departs, reminding Carmen that he will always love her.
At the farewell party, everyone is dressed up and the celebration is loud and festive. Nick confesses his feelings to Serena and they decided to try to date although they are heading to different colleges. Schlomo reveals through monologue that Carmen has died of a drug overdose, and dedicates the classes' final senior song to her memory.
After the bows, Carmen comes back dancing on the roof of a taxi cab and sings "Fame" for the Finale.

Characters

Source: MTI
;Act I
;Act 2
†In Some productions "In LA" is replaced with "Out Here On My Own".
The music used in the Dance Class is based on Beethoven's Spring Sonata. Also, the Pas De Deux uses music from the ballet "This Is Forever" by Steve Margoshes. However, some productions use music for the Pas De Deux by Mark Berman.
Some productions such as Fame on 42nd Street use the song "There She Goes! " as an alternative to "I Want to Make Magic ". This version has a more Spanish theme to the song. However, it still contains elements of the "I Want to Make Magic " in it.

Orchestra and chorus

The orchestra calls for a rock combo of 12 musicians and a chorus of five backup singers. The instrumentation calls for two keyboards, two guitars, electric bass, drums, percussion, violin, a woodwind player, two trumpet/flugelhorn players and trombone. Either keyboard part can by played by the conductor. The woodwind player doubles on flute, clarinet, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone. One guitar player plays lead while the other plays rhythm.

Productions around the world

The musical has had productions in nearly 25 countries, such as Ireland, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Norway, Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Finland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In January 1993, a large-scale production of the musical made its European debut in Stockholm, Sweden, running for four years. The show came to the attention of choreographer-director Runar Borge, who has subsequently staged the show in numerous productions worldwide. The West End production was nominated for three Laurence Olivier Awards. The UK productions have had a total box office gross of £56 million through 2006. Since 1995, the musical has had seven separate West End runs, including a long run at the Aldwych Theatre from 2002 to 2006, the Cambridge, the Prince of Wales, the Shaftesbury Theatre, Victoria Palace, and a number of UK national and international tours. Well-known cast members in various productions have included Miguel Ayesa as Schlomo, Noel Sullivan as Nick, and Barbara Dickson as Miss Sherman.
An Italian production opened in Pavia, at Teatro Fraschini, directed by Gigi Saccomandi and Luigi Perego on September 20, 2003.
A new version of the musical opened in Pavia directed by Bruno Fornasari on June 23, 2004, and toured Italy until March 2006.
A Spanish production in Catalan ran at Teatro Tivoli in Barcelona from April 27, 2004 to September 26, 2004, directed by Ramon Ribalta. It reopened in Madrid in Spanish at Teatro Calderon February 1, 2006, and toured Spain until January 11, 2009.
The Estonian production opened in Tallinn in November 2006 to a good critical acclaim. The Estonian cast contained Nele-Liis Vaiksoo as Serena, Rolf Roosalu as Schlomo and Kaire Vilgats as Miss Esther Sherman.
A Portuguese production was created in 2005 with Portuguese dialogue and the original English musics. In 2008 the musical was brought back with some famous Portuguese names in the cast, like Patrícia Candoso as Serena and Fernando Fernandes as Schlomo.
In 2006, contestants from various seasons of the popular Puerto Rican television singing contest "Objetivo Fama" did a Spanish language production of the musical, entitled "Fama - El Musical" in the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was a three-night only engagement and was met with positive reviews by the press and fans alike.
An Italian production directed by Marco Daverio opened in Milan in December 2006 and toured through February 2007. It reopened on February 2, 2008 in Savona and toured through the end of the month.
The musical opened on May 4, 2007, for a summer production at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End. The show is directed by Karen Bruce, and the cast includes Ian Watkins as Schlomo, Natalie Casey as Serena, Fem Belling as Mabel, and Jacqui Dubois as Miss Sherman.
In 2007, A Dutch talent search competition called De Weg Naar Fame auditioned a large number of people in order to give four winners the chance to play Schlomo, Serena, Mabel, and Tyrone in the 2008 Dutch Tour of Fame. The show gave the finalists dance, vocal and acting training, and the three finalists for each character performed a piece from the musical in front of a panel of judges who made the final decision. The Dutch version includes Hein Gerrits as Schlomo, Kim-Lian van der Meij as Carmen, William Spaay as Joe, Doris Baaten as Miss Sherman, and Daphne Flint as Serena. Jim Bakkum understudied Schlomo.
On April 4, 2008, Fame opened in Paris at the Teatre Comedia.
In December 2008 The Nederlander Co with the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing presented the first FAME The Musical Production in Mandarin. Subsequently, a documentary, The Road to FAME, was filmed by Hao Wu following the students' preparation of the musical and how it affects the students' lives. It was presented in 2013 at the IFC Center in NYC.
A new UK touring production started in January 2009.
The Australian Revival Tour in Australia opened in Melbourne in April 2010, then traveled to Sydney and Brisbane. The show was choreographed by "So You Think You Can Dance"’s Kelley Abbey.
The show toured Italy and Sicily for 2009–10. This version included Benjamin Newsome as 'Schlomo Metzenbaum'.
The show had its first Irish tour starting in the Grand Canal Theatre Dublin from 19 August 2010 to 12 September 2010. The characters of Nick and Serena were played by Ben Morris and Jessica Cervi winners of RTÉ's reality TV show. Other cast members included: Sheila Ferguson, Lisa Gorgin, Brittany Woodrow, Taofique Folarin, James Gibbs, Charlotte Watts, Yemie Sonuga, Fra Fee, Hollie Taylor, Tara Young, Chris Jeffers, Aaron Parker, Hannah Wilson, Jaye Elster, Sarah Wilkie and Nicholas Collier. The show was directed by Brian Flynn and choreographed by Gary Lloyd, who has previously worked on the hit show Thriller – Live. The tour ended in Wexford Opera House on November 14, 2010.
The show had a brief run at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London, between 18 and 20 August 2011, with a cast of youths from the Hammersmith and Fulham community.
In September 2011, Fame The Musical played at M Theatre in Bangkok Thailand, with the casts coming from True Academy Fantasia and KPN Awards. This version includes Nat Sakdatorn as 'Nick Piazza'. "Fame The Musical" in the Thai version produced by Dreambox.
From November 25, 2011, to January 29, 2012, the musical played Woori Financial Art Hall, Seoul South Korea, starring Eunhyuk of Super Junior, Tiffany of Girls' Generation, Son Ho Young, Go Eun Seong, Kim Chan Ho, Shin Ui Jeong, Lina of The Grace, Choi Ju Ri, KoN and Kim Jung Mo of TRAX.
On May 5, 2012, FAME The Musical opened in Orebro, Sweden, at the Tyst Theatr with a world Swedish sign language premiere production, "Visukal" for the hearing impaired | FAME VISUKALEN.
Fame O Musical opened in São Paulo, Brazil, May 21, 2012, at Teatro Frei Caneca produced jointly by the Ministry of Culture and 4Act Productions under the general coordination of Ricardo Marques. It was directed by Billy Johnstone with choreography by Guto Muniz and musical direction by Paulo Nogueira. Assisting the director was Gustavo Torres and the vocal coach was Rafael Villar.
FAME in the Greek Language opened in Athens at the Theatron on 12/17/12.
Fame – The Musical returned to the UK as the 25th Anniversary Tour directed and choreographed by Gary Lloyd opening February 20 in London at the New Wimbledon Theatre. It then traveled to Wolverhampton, Sunderland, York, Aylesbury, Sheffield, Leicester continuing on tour till Nov 2014.
FAME performed a sold-out run at the Bridewell Theatre in London between March 28 and April 1, 2017. This production by CentreStage London starred Glen Jordan as 'Nick Piazza', Laura Ellis as 'Serena Katz', Yvette Shiel as 'Carmen Diaz', Charlie Houseago as 'Schlomo Metzenbaum', Chris Cahill as 'Joe Vegas', Nicole Seymour as 'Mabel Washington', Dean James as 'Tyrone Jackson', Sam Miller as 'Iris Kelly', Jon Haines as 'Goody', Emma Newman as 'Lambchops', Trish Butterfield as 'Miss Sherman', Claire Linney as 'Miss Bell', James Newall as 'Mr Myers' and Stewart McGhee as 'Mr Sheinkopf'. This production was directed by Stuart James, musical directed by Hayden Taylor and choreographed by Paul Brookland Willams and Samantha Herriot.
The 30th anniversary tour of FAME The Musical opened in Manchester UK on July 20, 2018, produced by SellADoor Productions. When the production had a run on the West End, the production was filmed and was later released on May 9th on BroadwayHD available for anyone with a membership/free trial to see it.

Recordings

Information taken from

Award nominations