ALL is pleased to partner with local arts venues to build upon their performances with lectures that provide additional context and insight. These lectures are free, however registration is required. Tickets for performances are available through our partners.

Mike Butler | 160 seats available
Friday, April 19
6:00pm - 6:30pm

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Created by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is based on a true story. It follows 16-year-old Jamie, who doesn't quite fit in at school in Sheffield. Dreaming of fame and fortune on the drag circuit, Jamie enlists the help of his incredibly supportive friends and family to defy expectations and take his first shaky high-heeled steps into the limelight. A heart-warming story about defeating the bullies and staying true to who you are, this glittering musical received wide acclaim from audiences and critics alike.

The NTL production of "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" will be shown at 7:00pm following the seminar. Tickets are available at the door. The price is $10 for Acadia Lifelong Learning members, $15 for non-members. For more information about the film series, please visit justuscoffee.com/ntlive.

Mike Butler

Mike Butler wears many hats but never actually wears hats. When he's not working full time at TAN Coffee or part time at The Church Brewing Co., both in Wolfville, he can be located all over the valley through his non-paying jobs! Mike can be seen on Eastlink TV where he hosts Annapolis Valley-In Focus (now in season 3), he writes for the Grapevine newspaper and other local publications, he is a man about town who never says no to emceeing, DJing, or volunteering his time with many local events, but his main passion is community theatre. 2019 sees Mike celebrating his 10th year in the local theatre crowd and he loves working with the many companies around the valley including CentreStage Theatre, Quick As A Wink , Fezziwig, The Wolfville Theatre Collective and Valley Ghost Walks. Mike will be next seen in The Odd Couple at CentreStage running June 2019, and he's directing Aladdin Jr. for EMS, New Minas in May 2019.

Additonal info about the show...provided by Pat Salmon

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is based on a 2011 BBC documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, about a young man named Jamie Campbell who was banned from his high school prom for wanting to attend wearing a dress. 

And the issue may have been that specific. Jamie’s homosexuality wasn’t really the major problem. He had been publicly out of the closet for a while, though he hadn’t escaped mockery, insults and bullying. 

In this instance, though, the controversy was narrowed to being about the outfit that was hanging inside Jamie’s closet. In fact even when Jamie went into stores shopping for the perfect dress, he was not allowed to try any on. 

When the school found out his plans, some parents protested and the sequins hit the fan. The school’s official position was that they wanted every student to receive equal attention and this was going to be a media event.

And what happened? Well, they DID turn this into a musical! 

In fact, Jamie Campbell’s friends were waiting for him outside the school in a show of strength and support - and threatened a boycott should he not be allowed inside.

In addition, Jamie always had the unconditional love of his mother, who becomes one of the major characters in the production. 

In terms of the history of musical theatre, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie picks up on the current trend for teen musicals. Focusing on the problems of young people (and the musical styles they prefer) is a way to try to attract a younger theatre audience. They often seem to be less resistant to moments when people burst into song and dance, since they have been watching Disney filmed musicals, and TV shows like Glee.

I suppose West Side Story could be called a teen musical, as well as Bye Bye Birdie, Hairspray, Grease and Billy Elliott. The most recent include Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, Be More Chill, and one very similar in plot to Jamie, The Prom, which is set in the US MidWest and is centred around a girl who wants to attend her prom with her same-sex partner.

Dressing in drag is also a long tradition in theatre. At some points it was a way to get around the fact that women weren’t allowed on the stage. Both the ancient Greeks and the Elizabethans had female roles played by men and boys, and that is true in Japanese Kabuki as well.

Then there is the Victorian British pantomime tradition, which is still honoured in Wolfville every year by the Fezziwig Society’s holiday show. In that genre, the Principal Boy is played by a young woman (e.g. Peter Pan) and the Dame is played by a man. Our speaker, Mike Butler, is well known for taking on the ‘Dame’ roles in these shows.

These days, drag is also linked to political action, the LGBTQ movement and personal growth - and has become fairly mainstream. The real Jamie has said “bullying did grind me down, but drag did the opposite. It provided me with confidence and helped shield some of my vulnerability. That's because drag is an extension of your personality but it’s also not the 'regular' you. So, it was a way of getting those things out that I wouldn’t do as my 'normal' self.”

The Acadia University Art Gallery has also mounted an exhibit with a similar purpose - and relates drag to the Newfoundland mumming tradition.

In the production we will see, the fictional Jamie New (a nicely symbolic name) puts on his red stilettos and triumphs without a whole lot of trial and tribulation. It’s not exactly Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz clicking her ruby slippers together and saying “there’s no place like home” , but close! This is your chance to join the  audiences who have been cheering Jamie’s journey.