At number 9 on my countdown of pet hates on Fame is Opera!Now I'm not a big fan of Opera at all and I believe it was a big mistake to try to introduce it into Fame.
Classical music had been a major part of Fame since day one particularly with Julie Miller being a cellist but it never felt that that music was taking over. All credit to Lori for actually making the cello seem sexy. I guess after Lori left the show the producers were looking for something different to keep that classical aspect to the show but not just have another cellist or something similar like a violin player.
I guess on paper having an Opera singer join the cast was a good idea. There would instantly be something different about that person, who would struggle to fit in with the main group and that could bring drama to the show. However the way it was introduced I don’t think it worked at all. “The Deal” is one of my least favourite episodes and I not only dislike the opera but the whole story of linking Alicia to the mafia and striking a deal to get her into the school was a bad idea.
I think to have made the character work the bursts of the opera we saw needed to be shorter, so we got a sense of how good Alicia was without feeling that opera was taking over. There also needed a good pop or rock song in the episode to balance things out again so we didn’t feel totally overwhelmed by the opera. They could have even tried to turn a couple of pop hits into an opera style for a bit of fun and make Alicia more accessible to those of us who aren’t keen on that style of music. Even having Alicia sing a normal ballad as well as the opera to help us relate a little nmore may have been a good idea.
After all the audience was predominately young and we loved the show for the singing and dancing and the huge feel good factor that these elements of the show brought with them. The choice of opera in “The Deal” didn’t do this and there was nothing in that episode for those of us who like their music a little more main stream to latch on to. Thus the whole set up of this character certainly made me feel alienated as a viewer.
I not only found the whole story boring but also Alicia’s character too. I’d been so excited at the thought of a new regular cast member because after Erica left there seemed to be a huge whole in the show and I was looking for a new character to fill it. Sadly Phoebe Yadon Lewis was not up to the job and I found her acting a little wooden.
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