Everybody’s Talking About Jaime in Los Angeles

I was lucky enough to catch the Los Angeles and North American Premiere of Everybody’s Talking About Jaime at the Ahmanson Theatre on January 16.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is based on the true story of 16-year-old Jamie Campbell, who overcomes bullying for his desire to be a drag queen. The title character, Jamie New, when faced with the question of what does he want to do as a career, expresses his desire to be a drag queen. For his 16th birthday he receives a pair of heels as a gift, and he begins his journey of drawing up his drag persona. At a local drag shop, Jamie meets Hugo, the retired drag queen Loco Chanel, who takes Jamie under his wing and guides him on his journey of finding himself.

Jamie’s desire to dress in drag leads him to complications at school and further complicates his relationship with his estranged father. Through his struggles and with a little help from his friend Pritti, Jamie overcomes the challenge of bullying and finds acceptance from those around him.

Prior to this production, I had seen the film adaptation in September 2021 on Amazon Prime. I enjoyed the film, and found it to be really well done, so I was definitely interested to see how the narrative I was familiar with from the film originated on the stage.

This show is a lot of fun, at times a little dramatic and over-the-top in the name of telling a story with complex character and is backed by pop music a modern set design to bring the contemporary story to life. I liked the modern design of the show that almost was reminiscent of a black box set, which was not what I would have expected from a show that is so visually vibrant, but I think it makes some of the costuming pop to the eye. I thought the use of the space was innovative, including how the house set kind of opened and closed like a dollhouse. The integration of projection use enhanced certain numbers in the show and I love when shows find ways to utilize technology in the set design to convey a visual narrative.

Layton Williams, who stars in the title role of Jamie, gave a standout performance. It was very evident that he knows this character very well and is able to dig into what its like to be in Jamie’s shoes (literally). Williams nailed Jamie’s standout personality, and I often found my eyes draw to wherever he was on stage. His vocals were also a strength in the performance, with standout numbers of “The Wall in My Head” and “Ugly in this Ugly World”, and his duet with Melissa Jaques, “My Man, Your Boy.”

I think it’s one of the stronger high school-set musicals in the last five or so years. There is a character arch that the audience see from start to finish, not only with Jamie, but with some of the supporting characters as well. I also love that the story is positive without really a backhanded compliment. So many high shool musicals are either fake-deep, or give some sort of “be this, not that” narrative. There are certainly moments where characters are faced with challenges, we see Jamie getting bullied at school, or complications with some of the adults in his life, but overall the narrative remains focused on conveying a message of staying true to yourself.

The main questionable aspect of this show was the updated book, which uses COVID references, despite not visually matching the spoken dialogue. Characters made references to wearing masks and social distancing, however, none of the characters were wearing masks on stage. The students weren’t visually spaced apart and the only visual note was when the characters would enter the set of Jamie’s home, they used hand sanitizer on stage.

This seemed to be an addition to make it seem more relevant to the time. I don’t think it really added much to the production except for a momentary laugh. It’s a tricky thing storytellers now have to navigate, and I just don’t think audiences are at the point where COVID is something to be laughed off, especially in Los Angeles, where the COVID restrictions are still very strict. The night I went to see Jamie, it was the only major theatre venue in the area playing that night—the rest were either vacant or canceled performances due to COVID.

I honestly had a lot of fun with this show. I’m not sure there was anything necessarily groundbreaking about it, but Layton Williams, Bianca Del Rio, Melissa Jacques, Hiba Elchikhe, and the cast are all very talented and bring a fresh story to life on stage. I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it.

I’m interested to see where Jamie goes after this! It would be amazing to see a mounted production somewhere in the U.S., whether it’s on Broadway or another limited run. I’m interested to see how more American audiences react to it.

Everybody’s Talking About Jaime was adapted for the stage from the 2011 British TV documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16.  The musical premiered at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, in February 2017, and transferred to the West End at the Apollo Theatre in November 2017. In addition to the West End run and a UK tour, the musical has mounted productions in Seoul and Japan prior to its North American Premiere in Los Angeles.