Inspired by the 2011 BBC documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, the show tells the story of teenager Jamie New whose ambition in life is to be a drag queen, it’s his journey of self-discovery, heartache and fun.
I probably first heard about Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in 2017/18 during its West End run, I mean once you’ve heard the songs you can’t get them out of your head! But I only realised it was based on a true story documentary when I watched the feature film which was released in September 2021 (it’s still on Amazon Prime BTW).
It a nutshell, Jamie New has dreams of becoming a superstar drag queen but is only 16 years old, he’s in his last year of high school, but with the support from his loving and understanding mother Margaret, family friend Ray and his amazing friends, Jamie is destine to be in the spotlight no matter what the bullies or his AWOL dad think.
Throughout the show, many subjects were touched on, which I thought were done with sensitivity and humor, sexuality, gender identity, families and general life. The subjects discussed I imagine resonate with a lot of people, for me it took me back to the time I “came out” and those feelings and anxieties I had around it, and for my husband it reminded him of home life when it was just him and his mum.
The show was utterly fantastic and fabulous in every way, as were the audience who were dressed to the nines! A few songs and scenes stood out for me. Ivano Turco plays the title role of Jamie in this UK tour, his version of Wall in My Head the whole audience were transfixed, similarly when Jamie’s mum Margaret played by Rebecca McKinnis sang He’s My Boy I think there were a few teary eyes in the theatre, it’s such a lovely song, and the lyrics are like a timeline of her having Jamie and how he changed her life.
I preferred Ivano Turco‘s slower songs, as sometimes felt his voice was lost in the more upbeat songs. Turco is an absolutely fantastic dancer, and was a pleasure to see him grace the stage.
I LOVE LOVE LOVED the relationship between Jamie (Ivano Turco) and Pritti (Talia Palamathanan) they just made me smile constantly, and Palamathanan’s rendition of It Means Beautiful was literally beautiful (it’s one of my fave songs from the soundtrack). This brings me nicely onto my favourite scene of the show . . . which features Jamie and Pritti in the school toilets, Jamie is trying to perfect his eyebrow liner but it’s not quite going to plan! I won’t spoil it for you but it was hilarious and I was laughing throughout the whole scene. They have such a great relationship on stage.
Also a big shout out to Shobna Gulati who plays Ray, I love her character so much. Gulati also plays the role of Ray in the feature film, but she’s even better on stage, as she’s a bit ruder than she is in the film which I love and definitely got the audience laughing. This is Gulati’s third tour of the show, 2021, 2022 & now 2023! So nice to see Hayley Tamaddon as Miss Hedge, she was fantastic, the bursts of vogue inspired singing and dancing was fabulous, and whilst talking about being fabulous . . . hello John Partridge as Hugo/Loco Chanelle. Partridge is probably most well known for playing Christian in EastEnders, but fun fact he was actually in the original UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats! This is a dual role as Hugo (the drag shop owner) and Loco Chanelle the world famous drag queen and he was fab in both.
I honestly loved everything about this show, director Matt Ryan got everything right, and with such a fantastic cast, no wonder it’s been a hit! Well deserved standing ovation received at the Theatre Royal Brighton last night!
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is at the Theatre Royal Brighton until Saturday 11th November 2023, matinee shows at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday with evening shows at 7.45pm. Click HERE to book, and I can assure you will be talking about Jamie!