Fame opens in Melbourne

It may not have opened with the fanfare of Wicked, it may not have the demand of Mary Poppins, but Melbourne played host to another musical premiere tonight in the shape of a revival of Fame.

Produced by John Frost and Directed and Choreographed by Kelley Abbey, Fame is the story of the kids from New York’s School for the Performing Arts who inspired a generation and sparked sales of untold millions of legwarmers.

Fame is, almost uniquely, a classic of cinema, television and music theatre. The movie, released in 1980, won an Academy Award and swept the world. The TV show ran for six seasons, won numerous Emmy Awards and was broadcast in over 70 countries. And Fame The Musical ran for a decade on the West End and has been seen by 10 million people worldwide.

The production, which will play Brisbane and Sydney seasons following its Melbourne run, features a cast mixed with strong musical theatre talent and stars of the reality television show So You Think You Can Dance?

Darlene Love plays Miss Sherman, Andrew McFarlane is Mr Myers and Brian Wenzel is Mr Sheinkopf. Talia Fowler plays Iris Kelly, whilst Timomatic is Tyrone Jackson.

Also in the lead cast is Tim Dashwood, Chris Durling, Kylie Fisher, Jaz Flowers, Rebecca Mendoza, Sam Ludeman, Catherine Shepherd, Rowena Vilar and Jonathan Whitlow.

The ensemble cast features Michelle Barr, Charlie Bartley, Amy Campbell, Morgan Choice, Danielle Cook, Thomas Egan, Sally Hare, Camilla Jakimowicz, Keiynan Lonsdale, Matthew McFarlane, Shannon O’Shea, Marko Panzic, Michael Ralph, Elenoa Rokobaro, BJ Rorke and Stephen Tannos.

Fame is playing at the Regent Theatre. Bookings: www.showbiz.com.au.