kids from fame

Fame was a relatively low budget musical from 1980 directed by Alan Parker and written by Christopher Gore, following a group of students and their teachers and their exploits and adventures at the New York High School of Performing Arts. The film starred Albert Hague as Mr Shorofsky (the music teacher), Jim Farrell (drama), Anna Meara (English) and Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant the main dance teacher and focal point of most of the auditions along with students Doris Finsecker (Maureen Teefy), Ralph Garcie (formally known as Raul Garcia until he tried to disguise his Puerto Rican roots) played by Barry Miller, Coco Hernandez (Irene Cara), Leroy Johnson (Gene Anthony Ray), Bruno Martelli (Lee Curreri) and Montgomery MacNeil (Paul McCrane). Despite the film's success in the US winning an academy award for the best song, the title track sung by Irene Cara as the character Coco Hernandez, it was not well received in the UK, the film only moderately successful and the soundtrack not even able to hit the top 20. However, right at the start of 1982, a new weekly television series began, based on the original film and called The Kids From Fame which again, followed the adventures and personal lives of the same group of teachers and students all attempting to become famous with a grounding at the stage school. Still written by Christopher Gore, all of the main characters were involved and many of the original actors and actresses also retained to provide some continuity with their roles, Debbie Allen continuing to play the part of Lydia Grant, the dance teacher who introduced the show each week summing up what the school was all about with the line "Fame costs, and right here is where you start paying - in sweat", Albert Hague as the crusty European music teacher Benjamin Shorofsky although the other leading teacher, Miss Elizabeth Sherwood was played by Carol Mayo Jenkins. As for the students, the TV producers retained the best loved characters of Leroy Johnson, the dance expert played by Gene Anthony Ray, even though he had received no formal dance training and the musical genius Bruno Martelli played by Lee Curreri. The name of the character Doris Finsecker was changed to Doris Schwartz to be played by the actress and singer Valerie Landsburg, Montgomery MacNeil was now played by PR Paul, Coco Hernandez who was one of the most memorable characters from the film as it was Irene Cara's role who sang the theme song was now played by Erica Gimpel as Cara had already begun to forge a successful solo singing career. They also introduced a new student character with Danny Amatullo played by Carlo Imperato who had an on/off love relationship with Doris throughout the series. Almost immediately, the TV series took off as the film had never managed and it became compulsive weekly viewing as the storylines were given a chance to delve much deeper into the personal lives and tragedies that befell just about all of them. During each episode, more often than not at the climax to the show, there would be a performance of song and dance by the students, sometimes organised but sometimes totally spontaneously and usually bringing tears to the eyes of either the parents or teachers or a guest star who happened to be passing and found themselves involved with the school in some way. The only song retained from the original film was the Irene Cara hit Fame which was the most famous song and signature tune of the whole project, only this time it was sung by Erica Gimpel. At the end of June 1982, Irene Cara's version was re-released and shot to no.1 on the singles chart, the film soundtrack also being re-issued and within four weeks it too sat on top of the album charts, although for the first week it had to share that honour with the final week at the top for ABC's Lexicon Of Love, a rare occurrence of a joint number one on the album charts. It had the pole position to itself the following week but a week later it succumbed to the even greater success of its own spin off The Kids From Fame. It was inevitable that due to the success of the show, that there would be a cast recording and by the summer, an album of original songs was ready for release, not even featuring the song Fame itself for copyright reasons, but after the release of the album, two memorable singles came out, the week after they had been sung on the show, Hi Fidelity featuring Valerie Lansberg as lead vocalist and Starmaker on which they all took a line each. In the UK particularly, the album sales were phenomenal, the cast recording hitting no.1 at the beginning of August, remaining there for eight weeks and returning for a further four weeks in November to end 1982 as the overall second best seller. A second volume of songs titled The Kids From Fame Again was released and peaked at no.2, giving the cast the top 2 albums the last week in October and the first week in November. Not satisfied with record sales and merchandising or even having made dancers leg warmers a must have fashion accessory for everyday wear, most of the cast became involved in a tour, performing the roles of the characters live on stage and the fans accepted the live gigs as if they were real people, not simply actors. In the gap between April and October 1983 when the show was off the air, the musical landscape changed quickly and by the time the show returned for a third series, the furore had already died down considerably and despite three albums being released in 1983, The Kids From Fame Live, The Kids From Fame Songs and The Kids From Fame Sing For You the chart placings became progressively worse. When season four of the series began in 1984 it was all over and most of the cast began to drift away to become involved with other projects and the producers began to introduce more and more new characters Carrie Hamilton as Reggie Higgins (seasons 5--6), Billy Hufsey as Christopher Donlon (seasons 3--6), Cynthia Gibb as Holly Laird (seasons 3--5), Nia Peeples as Nicole Chapman (seasons 4--6) but non of the new characters fired the imagination of the fans as much as the originals and the show limped on until season six in May 1987 when it was cancelled, never to return. Fame really was made to live forever however (as a line from the song states) as 25 years later the TV series was released on a series of DVD's. ~ Sharon Mawer, All Music Guide Lori Singer Role: Julie Miller (season 1-2) Lori Singer is not only an actress, she's also a capable Cello player and a model. Dick Miller Role: Lou Mackie (episodes 125-136; recurring previously) Dick Miller grew up in Brooklyn. He served in the Navy and did some boxing as a middleweight. In the 1950s he moved to Los Angeles and was discovered by Roger Corman. His first film appearance was in the Corman film "Not of this Earth" in 1957. Gene Anthony Ray Role: Leroy Johnson Sadly, Gene Anthony Ray passed away on Friday, November 14 2003. He died of complications from a stroke and was also HIV positive. He was 41. Erica Gimpel Role: Coco Hernandez (seasons 1-3) Born in New York, Erica Gimpel is the daughter of short story writer Joseph Gimple and singer Shirley Bass. She has appeared in a lot of high profile shows including Boston Legal. Debbie Allen Role: Lydia Grant Debbie Allen, a graduate from Howard University and historically Black College, used all of her experience during her life to give the best she can to the world. Debbie is a winner of many awards, mostly Emmys, and she is probably best-known for her work on "Fame," a popular 80s drama, in... Carrie Hamilton Role: Reggie Higgins (episodes 98-136) Carrie was the daughter of Carol Burnett. In her teens, Carrie had serious problems with drug abuse, which she and her famous mother went public with in an effort to help others. Carrie later became a dedicated musician, writer, and character actress, appearing in several tv shows such as 90210...Sadly Carrie died in 2002Role: Cleo Hewitt (season 4) Janet Damita Jo Jackson, sister of the ridiculously famous Michael and the other members of The Jackson Five , has managed to become worldly famous in her own right, emerging from the shadows of her brothers' fame. She was born on May 16th, 1966 to Joseph and Katherine Jackson, being the... Eric Pierpoint Role: Paul Seeger (episodes 115-136) Eric Pierpoint was born in Redlands, California in 1950 and is the middle of three children. His first brush with acting came as a child when he spent two days wandering around his neighborhood in character as Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet. Eric attended the University of Redlands. Nia Peeples Role: Nicole Chapman (episodes 65-122) Nia Peeples was born in Hollywood, California, USA on December 10, 1961. She grew up in West Covina, CA with her parents and two sisters, Paula and Cynthia. Since she was eight years old, she first began performing with her family, giving concerts for community groups and conventions and doing. Carlo Imperato Role: Danny Amatullo Valerie Landsburg Role: Doris Schwartz (season 1-4) P.R. Paul Role: Montgomery MacNeil (season 1) Lee Curreri Role: Bruno Martelli (season 1-3) Albert Hague Role: Benjamin Shorofsky Carol Mayo Jenkins Role: Elizabeth Sherwood (season 1-5) Billy Hufsey Role: Christopher Donlon (seasons 3-6) Ken Swofford Role: Quentin Morloch (episodes 40-97) Page Hannah Role: Kate Riley (episodes 98-112) Cynthia Gibb Role: Holly Laird (episodes 40-98) Loretta Chandler Role: Dusty Tyler (seasons 5-6) Michael Cerveris Role: Ian Ware (season 6) Ann Nelson Role: Gertrude Berg (episode 66-136, recurring previously) Olivia Barash Role: Maxie Sharp (episodes 125-136) Jesse Borrego Role: Jesse Velasquez (seasons 4-6) Graham Jarvis Role: Bob Dyrenforth (episodes 98-136)