“Fame” is a reinvention of the original 1980 hit film, eventually turned into a TV version premiering in 1981. “Fame” follows the life of a talented group of young adults as they train for their performing careers at the New York City High School of Performing Arts, also known as PA. This group will be pushed to show their talent whether it be dancing, singing, playing instruments or acting. The AM hours at the school focuses on their performances and perfecting it, while the afternoon will focus fully on academics. All the students need to maintain an average grade to continue with the program.

As we go from freshmen year to senior year we see all the stars begin to rise. Not surprisingly most of the entertainers cross over from acting to musicians and from singers to dancing. They all seem multi faceted. Joy (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle) is one of our actors who seem to have the chops, where Jenny (Kay Panabaker) is still trying to tune her talent. Marco (Asher Brook) proves to know his singing is superb and is in tune with his skills, and Denise (Naturi Naughton) is learning her talent is larger than she even knows. As we follow these students in their road to FAME we also watch the turmoil any teen experiences. Love, failure, work and the stress it can all cause. As we get close to the finish line who will come out on top and have you remembering their name?

Answer is sadly none of them. “Fame” was not as spectacular as I expected. The film had high energy and good entertainers, but overall it was a letdown. The most thrilling performances came from the dancers, as they had excellent choreography. The acting was average; they should have stuck more to the performing arts and less on the scripted scenes. The standout star for me was Kherington Payne as Alice, the former ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ competitor, proving not only to be a marvelous dancer, but a new star on the rise. “Fame” will be an enjoyable showcasing for the young adults, but former fans of the TV series or movie may find it second-rate.