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jamie in cinemas review (abbydancesx)

Hello hello hello! It's Abby here! On Sunday, November 11, I had the amazing treat of seeing a filming of the West End musical, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, right here in American cinemas. This production is absolutely beautiful, and it truly needs to be transferred to Broadway right now. I know that a lot of Americans have never heard of it, so I thought that I'd give a little review here. I'm going to beg each and every one of you to go listen to this musical, on Spotify or Youtube, and if you love it, then please purchase the cast album on iTunes!

The story of this show follows 16-year-old Jamie, who wants to be a drag queen. He has to face bullies at school, as well as his father, who is far from accepting. When the word gets around that he wants to wear a dress to his school prom, there is an outrage. He has to fight for his right to wear what he wants, and he also has to learn to accept himself in the meantime. It was based off of the story of Jamie Campbell, who had a documentary made about him, titled Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. Knowing that the musical is based off of a true story really helps to add to the emotion of it all, as if it wasn't emotional enough before, haha!

John McCrea, who plays Jamie, is absolutely brilliant in this part. I "saw" him perform at West End Live (I was still getting checked through security but I was able to hear it at lease haha) and that's the coolest thing to me. Really, I "saw" most of the cast, but obviously, the lead is going to be a stand out. I'm literally obsessed with John, okay. I could go on for hours about how much I love him and how fabulous he is, but in all seriousness, that boy can SING! His portrayal of Jamie was completely heartbreaking  but also very raw and real. I think that highlights of his performance were 'Wall In My Head'(my mom's favorite) and 'Ugly In This Ugly World.'

If you all weren't previously aware of how much I love Lucie Shorthouse, you are now aware. Wow, what an actual queen. 'Spotlight' is actually my favorite song in the entire show, and I'd love to sing it someday if the proper occasion ever arises. (I also just found out that she was in a British version of The Sound Of Music Live which is my all-time favorite show and can be streamed right now on pbs.com so GO GO GO!) Anyway, Lucie's portrayal of Pritti was so amazing, and her (friend) chemistry with John was amazing. There's a part of 'Spotlight' that isn't preserved on the cast album where Jamie and Pritti sing together, and the harmonies were just perfect. Pritti also had some lines that I really loved, and it was a really nice reflection of how I know that I feel in high school, and I'm sure that many others do as well. She was such a great friend to Jamie and was never afraid to stick up for him when he needed it. 

Josie Walker as Margaret... where do I start? That woman can SING! Margaret is Jamie's mom, and a ridiculously emotional role, though Josie handled it with such grace and poise. I believe that this show was her West End debut, which is crazy hard to believe, because that stage is exactly where she belongs. (also, just gonna say that I could TOTALLY see Rachel Bay Jones playing this part at some point!) Josie's 'If I Met Myself Again' was probably when the tears started flowing, if I'm being honest. Lots of tears were shed during the production. 

Everyone else was also fabulous in this production, but those three really stuck out the most, as well as being the biggest parts, I'd say. 

As I already mentioned, my favorite song is Spotlight, but some other numbers that really stuck out to me were, the two most 'famous' songs, 'You Don't Even Know It' and 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie,' the Act I and Act II opening numbers, respectively. 'The Legend Of Loco Chanelle (And The Blood Red Dress)' also stuck out to me. I was actually quite surprised with how much I loved that one, as it's never been in my top songs while just listening to the cast album. The way that it was staged was super cool.

The choreography in the show was amazing, and all of the cast members were great dancer. There were even lots of flips and really cool things that I totally wish I could do! Something that I loved was that during the bows sequence, every cast member got their own little dance solo. It was a really good way to make allow everyone to have their own little moment in the 'spotlight' (hehe.)

The script was absolutely hilarious, and there were lots of pop culture references, two of my favorites being a reference to Rupaul and a joke about Harry and Meghan. A warning, though, there were lots of R-rated jokes. I believe that the Apollo Theatre in London doesn't allow audience members under 10 (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read that somewhere), however the show is recommended for ages 14 and up. The show is absolutely not for anybody younger than high school age (and I'm pretty sure that my mom wanted to cover my ears a few times!)

I'd have to say that Everybody's Talking About Jamie is one of my top five favorite musicals. Seeing the filming of it really confirmed that for me, even though I've absolutely adored it since the moment I first heard the music over the summer.

If anybody is interested in seeing Jamie, there is one more showing- tomorrow (November 14) at 7:00 in cinemas across the nation. The website is jamieincinemas.com, so please check that out, find a showing near you, and go! This story is so important, and it needs to be shared with the world.

Let's just say that if this show ever comes to Broadway, I will be the first in line to buy tickets to approximately 100,000 shows. I love it so much, and I hope that you all will too! Comment if you've listened to the soundtrack before, or if you've been lucky enough to see this show on London's West End for all my Brits (or wannabe Brits like myself!) out there. Let's have a conversation. If you haven't listened to it- what are you doing with your life? Go listen to it, and come back and tell me how you liked it!