Fame heading to Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn

Curtain Call Theatre Co is bringing Fame the Musical to Theatre Severn for two nights on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

The amateur theatre company is currently rehearsing at the Lion Hotel ballroom in preparation and Ben Davies, producer and choreographer, said they were all very excited to do justice to the hit 80s musical film the stage show is based upon.

He said it as a chance for theatre-goers to “share the heartache, the passion, the drive and the bandanas of New York’s Performing Arts students as they strive for success in the tough world of dance.

“It’s a really popular show, everyone knows Fame, and Theatre Severn hasn’t seen it for five or six years so we thought we would bring it back,” he said. “Rehearsals are going really well, we’ve only had about 10 but they have been really intense.. The cast are brilliant they are just so talented. We’re super excited.”

Ben, 22, founded his first theatre company when he was just 13 and went straight from The Corbet School in Baschurch to drama school. He graduated from the London School of Musical Theatre and has lived and performed professionally in London and Japan, as well as starting Curtain Call in his home county in 2009.

The group is made up of amateurs and professionals and has members from as young as 14 up to about the age of 60.

He said they had done dozens of musicals between them and performed at the Theatre Severn multiple times. Previous productions have included The Wedding Singer, Into The Woods and Bring It On.

He said performing Fame was set to be a highlight.

“This unmistakable title has been brilliantly transformed into riveting musical theatre,” he said.

The original film was released in 1980 and won multiple awards, particularly for its music. The title song sung by Irene Cara was a hit in the US but only topped the UK charts in 1982 when it was re-released to coincide with the UK debut of the follow-up television series – but it went to become the second biggest selling single of that year over here.

Tickets are £13 to £17 from the box office on 01743 281281.