Terry Alan in AC!

Fame, the show that has been around for several years in different iterations, needs no review.  Most of us know it as the story of a diverse group of teens trying to make it through New York's High School for the Performing Art, and for the title theme---Fame! I'm gonna live forever. Fame! I'm gonna learn how to fly!---which has to be one of the most uplifting pieces of music heard on stage or the airwaves in the last few decades.

What makes this version different is: its necessary abbreviation for a casino venue and the fact that it's even being presented in such a venue.

Natural story progression suffers somewhat as the result of cutting out a quarter of the original show's time.  This has been the case with other Broadway shows brought to AC.  (Some of those shows were brought to town by some of those responsible for Fame.)  It's not a big deal, espcially if you are concentrating on the dancing, music and "spirit" of the story.

As for such a show being presented in a casino venue---that's the big difference.  Normally, we might play our casino games, do some dining, shopping and strolling, then "spectate" at a performance---singer, band, comedian, etc.  With a play, musical or not, you're drawn into a story which, I submit, is a greater change of pace from other activities.

And Fame is pretty much a story within a story.  Here we have, with the exception of a few cast members, a group of young, hopefully up-and-coming performers portraying their slightly younger counterparts.  This became most real during the finale' when the troupe emerged as a "finished product" of the high school, then as themselves, even more finished and without the high school flaws (and with a deceased character returning in best-ever form).

Fame the Musical at the Tropicana showroom runs through early September.  Regardless of which casino you're doing your gambling at---if any---this show is well-performed and a nice, as we said, change of pace.  It's also a good entertainment value.