Home > Reviews > Fame The Musical @ Birmingham Hippodrome
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May 22 2007
By Alf Bennett, Birmingham Mail

THE last musical that struck a chord with me was something with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in it.

But maybe I should get out more because Fame The Musical at the Hippodrome is a blast.

The show takes its cue from the 1980 film directed by Alan Parker but the stage version now has a life all its own, having been seen by nearly four million people since its West End launch in the 1990s.

And it comes bustling into Brum with all the energy for which it is famous.

The story centres on the hopes, dreams and relationships of the students of New York's High School for the Performing Arts.

There's not much by way of plot - it's more a collection of set-piece routines. But what routines they are.

Among the characters there's posh Iris, lovelorn Serena, rebel Tyrone and of course big Mabel whose gluttony provides some clunking comedy moments.

Tragic Carmen Diaz, played by Madalena Alberto, lights up the stage with her performance.

And don't slip out early to beat the traffic or you will miss a fabulous finale.

The show runs until Saturday.

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