Back to the 80s as Fame the Musical comes to the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham

The Stage Experience sees talented young Birmingham stars of the future recreate the 80s hit show Fame for stage
By Richard Gullick
Published 18th Aug 2022, 17:46 BST
Updated 19th Aug 2022, 11:32 BST

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This year’s annual Stage Experience at the Alexandra Theatre sees a full scale production of Fame the Musical - based on the classic 1980s film following the final class of New York teenagers at a performing arts school.

Stage Experience is an annual performance at the Alexandra Theatre, where hopeful thespians between the ages of 9 - 24 can get involved in a full scale production during the summer holidays. This year sees 60 young talented individuals participate in the production, following an intense two week rehearsal period.

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Molly Ann Bache who plays Miss Sherman in Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about her role Molly Ann Bache who plays Miss Sherman in Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about her role
Molly Ann Bache who plays Miss Sherman in Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about her role

Harry Preece, Senior Technician at the Alexandra Theatre, says: “This year, we’re putting on a production of Fame. We’ve got kids acting and doing the technical side of the production. It gives them a really good chance of - kind of - getting real world experience in the theatre, it’s a really hard industry to kind of get your foot in the door, especially technically. And this gives kids a really good way of getting in and getting the experience that they need for the job.”

Aiden Cooney, Principle / Ensemble for Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about his experienceAiden Cooney, Principle / Ensemble for Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about his experience
Aiden Cooney, Principle / Ensemble for Stage Experience’s production of Fame at the Alexandra Theatre speaks about his experience

Molly Ann Bache who plays Miss Sherman says: “So I’m playing Miss Sherman, which is the - she’s the English teacher. In some productions she’s the head teacher, but essentially, she’s the boss. And she wants the students to excel in their academics. Everyone else wants the students to excel in the arts.

“And so she’s pushing, pushing, pushing. I had to do all this - they can’t get away with just dance, they can’t get away with just music or just acting. So she is the bad guy essentially, until the end. And everyone kind of makes friends.”

Aiden Cooney, Principle / Ensemble, says: “So we visit the rehearsals since Friday. We’ve done pretty much every day. But we carry on rehearsals till Friday. And then we start technical rehearsals next week.”

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Fame will be playing at the Alexandra Theatre from the 25th - 27th August. More information available on the Alexandra Theatre website.

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