?Fame?
D: Kevin Tancharoen
S: Asher Book, Naturi Naughton and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle

MANILA, Philippines?The latest incarnation of the 1980 movie musical, ?Fame,? starts out auspiciously. In its updated version, the film follows a group of promising students at the New York City for the Performing Arts as they hone their skills to prepare themselves for the ultimate payback?fame.

Director Kevin Tancharoen delivers an exciting and brisk-paced first half as he introduces his main characters: There?s the vocally gifted heartthrob, Marco (Asher Book); the classically trained pianist, Denise (Naturi Naughton), who longs to break away from the rigid and exacting standards of classical music; the talented but painfully self-conscious Jenny (Kay Panabaker);

The self-centered and predatory campus jock, Andy (Cody Longo); the haughty dancer, Alice (Kherington Payne); the tortured actor-rapper, Malik (Collins Pennie); the quirky wannabe filmmaker, Neil (Paul Iacono), and the feisty singer-actress, Joy (Fil-Am Anna Maria Perez de Tagle).

Glorious rendition

Standouts are Book and Naughton.The former?s amazing voice complements his boy-band good looks (his glorious rendition of John Legend?s ?Ordinary People? is nothing short of breathtaking), while the latter, who sounds like a hybrid of Chaka Khan and Jennifer Hudson, sings ?Out Here On My Own? like there?s no tomorrow.

For her part, Perez de Tagle possesses a sprightly, adorable presence, but isn?t really required to do much (her most head-turning moment comes when she?s asked to rap while inebriated), which is a letdown, because the girl is obviously talented.

After establishing the characters? back stories, however, Tancharoen fails to steer them?and his production?in a clear direction, then loses his focus halfway through the movie. He fails to take advantage of?and build on?the exciting momentum he established in the beginning.

Talented cast

The singing and dancing sequences are masterfully performed and choreographed, but the production doesn?t offer a lot of them. Instead of cooking up spectacular production numbers for Cook, Naughton and the rest of the talented cast, the film instead follows a formulaic pattern as it makes its way to the characters? regulatory happy endings.

The second half further underwhelms because some characters face their troubles with a misguided sense of entitlement?if they don?t triumph in adversity, they fold. Worse, they?re willing to give up training in favor of financially lucrative ?rackets.? Is this the right message to convey to the entertainment industry?s future performers?

In the real world, life is no song and dance for the theater?s habitues. When performers don?t get what they want, they don?t commit suicide?they just work harder and move on.

As one performer astutely reminds another: ?The theater is not a place for cowards.? We say amen.