Text by Emily Slawson, photos by Daniel Nussbaumer

“Fame, I’m gonna live forever, I’m gonna learn how to fly, high, I feel it comin‘ together, People will see me and cry, fame!”

     Fame! The musical was performed by a group of talented fourth year students from Gymnasium Muttenz and premiered the week of March 18 in The Roxy Theatre in Birsfelden. The actors starring in the musical performed with lots of energy that totally engaged the audience. Fame is full of upbeat and catchy music- and we all had the songs stuck in our heads for days! Between the music, dancing, singing and acting it really was a great show that hopefully everyone had the chance to see.  

The musical is set in New York City at a High School of Performing Arts. It’s the story of several high school students and their busy school lives filled with acting, dance, music and English classes. The main character is Carmen, a young girl looking to seek instant fame. It also features several other main characters; Tyrone, Schlomo, Nick, Joe, Serena, Mabel and Iris, Miss Sherman, Mr. Meyers and Miss Bell. The musical highlights the daily struggles and life of these young talented performing arts students as they work their way through high school life.

Prior to the premiere, our English classes spent many weeks studying the musical. We all had several reading assignments between classes. In class we discussed what we read the following week and also spent lots of time analyzing the characters. We went very in depth studying the musical, so by March 22 we had a very good idea of what would happen on stage. Studying the musical beforehand helped us create an image of the characters and an idea of how we hoped the roles would be portrayed.

On Friday March 22 several classes from Gymnasium Muttenz went together by bus or bike to the Roxy in Birsfelden, excited to see our “English Assignment” live. The choreography was very well performed and the actors did a great job fulfilling their roles on stage. Also the band did a fantastic job playing upbeat and energetic music. One of my favorite things were the brightly colored costumes; they really fit the setting and time period of the musical.

In English class the following week, we shared our thoughts and ideas about the play, and of course we all had the same opinion; it was a great day, great show and the entire cast did a great job! I hope nobody missed their chance to see Fame! Bravo!

Slideshow of three kissing scenes:

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