Plenty of high energy, good characters and top dancing - shame about the songs though.
Who can forget those opening credits from the 1980s TV show - "Fame costs...and here's where you start paying...in sweat."
Well there's plenty of sweat and effort in the stage musical version of Alan Parker's film.
This version of Fame is one which improves as it goes along, especially after the initial shock of discovering none of the cast were wearing leg warmers.
Shock, horror. Thankfully, once everyone had enrolled and we were into a ballet sequence, the woolly limb heaters had been installed.

There's no doubting the dance skills and fitness of the cast. We're not talking short routines here, most go on for several minutes, creative and dynamic.
The tale is simple enough. A group of youngsters find themselves accepted at the New York School of Performing Arts.
We follow the ups and downs of their four year course. And don't expect it all to end happily - some don't make the grade, some don't even survive.
What's good about the show is the strong characterisation of those involved. You quickly get to know what makes the characters tick.
There's plenty of humour in the show which is fast paced.
The big drawback with Fame are the actual songs.
The TV series was hardly crammed with classics, but at least you could vaguely sing along with tracks like Hi-Fidelity and Starmaker.
In the theatrical version the majority of the songs are dire.
The opening number sees the cast repeating "I pray I make PA," over and over, to the extent that it becomes irritating, you could say "I pray this song will end."
It takes until Mabel's Prayer in the second half for the audience to really get behind a song and give it more than just a pleasant round of applause.
Sadly, the formula is only repeated when Miss Sherman (Melanie La Barrie) sings These Are My Children.
While most of the cast can hold a note, there are those who sing better than others and it doesn't help when the orchestra does it's best to drown out the singers.
I must also mention the moment Tyrone (Copeland) and Iris (Cathie Carday) dance the Pas De Deux.

It's like a throwback to 60s choreography - plenty of knowing glances, little laughs here and there as our Tyrone tries to get back into Iris's good books.

It's there as a light-hearted dance but I couldn't help imagining Cliff Richard and Una Stubbs doing a similar routine in Summer Holiday and it just didn't seem to fit Fame.
You have to wait until the very end for the full version of the Fame theme song (it appears briefly in medley form earlier).
At this point, the already energetic show reaches new proportions. The audience gets off its feet, the dancers suddenly seem released and all because of a recognisable song.
Fame is a good show, you can't help feeling with better tunes it could have been a great one.

Can I move yet? Tyrone Jackson as portrayed by Chris Copeland

The star is in the house - Debbie Kurup plays Carmen Diaz

Opera House

Fame

8 - 13 April

Following in the footsteps of the award-winning film and hugely popular television series, this spectacular stage musical features a new score alongside the familiar title song, a talented cast of over twenty-five performers, and a surprisingly well-structured plot…

On the other hand, Debbie Kurup (pictured), who recently starred as Mimi in the UK tour and West End revival of Rent, is extremely impressive as Carmen, one of the young hopefuls. Her rendition of the title song is as good as any I have heard, including the original, and her depiction of a fragile character led astray by her desire to perform is deeply moving; a delicately touching interpretation.

In a show full of relationships, the one that stands out is that between Julie Atherton's Serena Katz and Nick Piazza, played here by Paul Spicer, who joins the cast fresh from his lead rôle in Cameron Mackintosh's West End production of The Witches of Eastwick. Their sexually charged interaction is a delight to watch and Atherton's comic timing is superb.

Spicer uses his impressive voice to make light work of a challenging score, and his command of verse dialogue is refreshingly charismatic. His particular skill is to shift from spoken word into song with apparent ease and to infuse each line with the same degree of considered thought and feeling. Not only is he dashingly handsome; he is also perfectly cast.

Of the supporting artists, Leigh-Anne Stone conjures a show-stopping performance of Mabel's Prayer and Ben Heathcote offers a consistently amusing portrayal of Joe Vegas.

This fantastic production looks set to play to full houses all week, and if the reaction of the first night crowd is anything to go by, both cast and audience are sure to enjoy every minute of it.

Reviewed by Neil Eckersley for Manchester on Stage.