Melton performers shine in top Leicester stage show

Melton lad, Ben Lee, starring as Jamie New in the Leicester production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie and (left) the full cast give their final bows at the end of the show

Originally featuring star of stage and screen, Layton Williams, in the lead role, ‘Jamie’ – as it is known colloquially – is an upbeat and affirming musical designed around the insecurities of finding oneself during your school years.

Music from Dan Gillespie-Sells and lyrics from Tom Macrae moves from humorous to tender to angry and back again without straying too far from truth behind the screenplay, and is ornamented in the most contemporary fashion with killer choreography and a charming script.

But without a stellar and dedicated cast, the music, the words and the movement behind the hit are futile.

The full cast of Leicester show, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, which contained a number of Melton performers including Ben Lee in the title role

Leicester Theatre Group’s production, featuring a number of talented Meltoners, was nothing short of immense – communicating a glorious celebration of individuality against the backdrop of working class Sheffield with emotional vulnerability and magnificent comic sensibility.

And there lies the challenge of ‘Jamie’. With such fast changes of emotional direction, high octane choreography to execute, and challenging vocal harmonies to deliver, the young cast had to be on top of their game.

From ‘Work of Art’, featuring Enara Drewett as the sardonic and witty Miss Hedge, to ‘The Legend of Loco Chanel’, with Luca Tweddle offering a vast improvement on Richard E.

Grant in his portrayal of the jaded former-star, clean choreography and well learned harmonies carried the pace, and made for excellent viewing.

But a special shout-out is reserved for Ben Lee, a Melton lad with a huge future ahead in the Arts.

As the title role, he shone, capturing not just the essence, emotions and elegance of Jamie New, but stealing the limelight with professionalism and poise throughout.

Whether opening the show with joy and optimism on ‘And you don’t even know it!’, or diving deep into Jamie’s emotional trauma on ‘Ugly in this Ugly World’, Lee hit every note of emotional vulnerability and optimism, and augmented his performance by executing some insanely difficult choreography and lyrics.

Alternate, Jamie Niall Johnson, also put in a fabulous shift, slotting into the talented cast with same maturity and professionalism as Lee.

As we know, the title role can only shine when accompanied by a stellar supporting cast.

Isabel Graham was delightful as best-friend Pritti, Katie Smith and Lilian Avramidou were the perfect maternal comic foils, and Rhys Hendry offered aggression as antagonist Dean.

And a final word must be given to the crew and creatives for utilising every inch of the Sue Townsend stage with genius ‘blockography’, musical director Lucy Mitcham for pulling together some gorgeous harmonies, and LTG producer Karl Strickland for conceptualising the piece. ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ was truly a triumph.

Click HERE to see other shows run by the Leicester Theatre Group.

Click HERE for details of performing arts courses at Melton’s SMB College Group campus.