Home > Current Buzz > Merival H.S. Nepean, ON, Canada Does FAME
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Fame: musical hits the stage in April, Cappie-award winning Merivale High School puts on the 80s classic
Mar 15, 2012
By Evan Grice, Merivale High School

Are you planning on living forever, dancing on cars down 46th street, or taking a trip down memory lane back to the 1980s?

If so, then the brand new and exhilarating adaptation of Fame - the Musical at Merivale high School is the show for you.

Accompanied by a talented pit band, trained dancers, dedicated actors, and vocals that simply demand praise, this new MHS production has everything.

The highly acclaimed school received 16 Cappies nominations in 2011, and took home seven awards for their production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Among the winners were best female dancer, best ensemble, choreography, female vocals, female supporting actress, best song, and best musical. Many of these same actors will appear in Fame.

Directing the funky production is Cynthia Wood, who has managed the school's musicals for three years.

Wood is a wondrous thespian, with a fun-spirited nature. She is a drama teacher who loves the stage, enjoys letting her students showcase their theatrical talents and has proven to have a knack for casting and producing visually pleasing spectacles.

The cast includes students enrolled in grades 9 to 12. All have a powerful connection with drama, and their own personal reasons for joining the show.

Madison Hayes-Crook, a triple-threat wonder who has won a Cappie for best comic actress (Once Upon a Mattress, 2010) and best female dancer (The Drowsy Chaperone, 2011), says that "drama is one of the best parts of high school, and musicals like Fame only make it better. I want to go into theatre next year, and this experience really helps students like myself develop the skills I need."

The stage version of Fame is based on a 1980s production written by Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore, with music by Steve Margoshes, and lyrics from Jacques Levy.

It has intelligently captured each and every detail of the 1980s in a two-hour musical which takes place at the School of Performing Arts in New York.

The plot follows 96 acting, music and dance students with genuine, raw talent. These students have to cope with difficult relationships, tough teachers, the consequences of substance abuse, sexual tension, and most importantly, the discovery of identity.

Through superb dance numbers and eloquent songs, the message of "living forever" is conveyed perfectly.

The Merivale High School cast will perform Fame in the cafetorium from April 18 to 21 at 7 p.m., along with matinees for selected schools scheduled for April 16 and 17.

Tickets for the production will go on sale at the box office on March 21. For more information call 613-224-1807, ext 228.

 

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