Review by Martine Silkstone.
Last night I was honoured to attend the dress rehearsal of Company of Four’s ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ at Seckford Theatre – and it was great fun!
For those who don’t know the musical (like I didn’t)…
Based on a true story, it follows the life of young Jamie New, a 16-year-old schoolboy who dreams of becoming a drag queen, despite facing bullying, prejudice and resistance from some of those around him.
With the unconditional love and support of his mum, and his best friend, Pritti, Jamie begins to embrace his true identity and prepares to attend his school prom in a dress. Along the way, he learns to stand up for himself, challenge society’s expectations and find the courage to be who he really is.
Now, that arguably sounds a bit heavy – but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a joyful, funny and uplifting show, with the outrageous power of drag queens thrown in for good measure.
Now, it’s hard to offer a full, proper review when I haven’t seen the finished production – they were still tweaking things on rehearsal night – but what I can say is that the young cast provide a huge amount of talent and a fantastic energy, and their brilliant dance numbers make you want to get up and join them.
In the lead, Scott Taylor as Jamie provides all the flamboyant sass you want from the role, but backed up by so much heart where it counts, and a good voice that got stronger as his performance grew in confidence during the show. In fact, he sang ‘Ugly in This Ugly World’ with such emotion that it gave me goosebumps.
And, of course, he wears the red heels very well indeed.
The other stand out for me is the young woman who plays his best friend, Pritti. I only know her name is Grace, but my word, what a talent! Such a lovely voice and natural performance. Her rendition of the song ‘It Means Beautiful’ was, well, beautiful.
I can also say that the staging is colourful and clever, and that the interval is rather more…stimulating than usual!
The rest you will have to discover yourself.
And I recommend you give it a look, because while the dress rehearsal was still a little rough round the edges, it was nevertheless highly entertaining and I left the theatre feeling lighter and ready to book a night out at a drag show – which says it all, right?
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is at Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge until 24 October 2026.
FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE