Sunset Playhouse's Fame (through Aug. 9) is an excellent example of the organic feel that can stem from a community theater production of a musical set in high school. With varying levels of talent and experience, some members of the cast fit more comfortably in their roles than others, in many ways mirroring the high-school experience.
Director Mark Salentine has managed to bring a cohesive, harmonious disorder to Sunset's main stage in Elm Grove. The production shows a rough kind of grace as it enacts a musical interpretation of virtually every high-school clich in this stylized story of a mid-'80s graduating class at New York's High School of Performing Arts.
Not unlike the class of an arts high school, the cast features those with a bright future onstage and those passing through on their way to other career offerings. Those likely to continue onstage include Ashley Levells, who conjures up a polished, soulful performance of "Mabel's Prayer," and Samantha Moyer, who carries herself with outstanding charm in the role of teenage rocker Grace Lamb.