Fame is what she’s after

Alex Coolman

When the movie “Fame” came out in 1980, Deanna Aguinaga didn’t catch it

in the theaters. She hadn’t been born.

But the movie’s message is one Aguinaga can relate to, despite the

generation gap. She’s a member of the ensemble for “Fame -- The Musical”

that runs Tuesday through Jan. 2 at the Orange County Performing Arts

Center.

And no less than the students of the Manhattan High School of the

Performing Arts who were the subject of the original “Fame,” Aguinaga has

her sights set on making it as an artist.

The 18-year-old performer, originally from Stanton, has been singing,

acting and dancing since she was 10. A stint at the Orange County High

School of the Arts in Huntington Beach launched her career.

She said she’s learned along the way that the creative life is one that

demands sacrifices.

“I got this job [with the cast of ‘Fame’] when I was still 17,” she said.

“It was either go to the prom and walk with your classmates or go do

‘Fame -- The Musical.’ And I chose the musical. So I guess you grow up

based on your career choices.”

The demands and rewards of seriously pursuing art are themes that David

De Silva, the man who originally conceived “Fame,” feels are inherently

dramatic. If he hadn’t made a movie, a television series and a musical

out of them, he said, somebody else probably would have.

“It was a good idea waiting to happen,” De Silva said of the story about

the school.

De Silva, a native New Yorker, had originally studied to become a history

teacher before coming up with the idea for “Fame.” He had also been doing

a little acting on the side. The twin enthusiasms, for education and

theater, came together in the work he eventually produced.

The 1980 movie was very well-received, garnering four Academy Award

nominations and spawning a television series, which ran from 1983 until

1987.

The core story of “Fame,” which looks at the trials and tribulations of

young artists from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, has a

richness that continues to win new audiences, De Silva said.

“It’s the American tapestry,” he said. “It’s the rainbow.”

The vitality of the work particularly comes through in the live show,

which he said manages to be spontaneous with every new performance.

“No two performances are the same. It’s a living, breathing live theater

event, and I think that’s much more exciting and much more creative” than

a film, De Silva said.

The 59-year-old creator, often referred to as “The Father of Fame,”

originally produced his vision as a movie rather than as a musical simply

because it was easier to have control over a movie, he said.

“It’s easier to create [a movie],” he said. “It’s like doing a novel.

Theater’s such a collaborative experience. You need everybody all working

at the same time.

“Working with a screenplay, you’re just working a writer.”

Reviewing the different versions of the work today, though, De Silva

finds his heart is won over by the human exuberance of the musical.

“I truly believe that ‘Fame’ will live forever in the theater,” he said.

“Having worked with the creative process in film, the creativity stops

when the camera stops. You’re left with the celluloid. And it’s either a

good print or a bad print, but it’s frozen in time.”

Even in the musical version, De Silva says, “Fame” comes across as “kind

of retro” just because of its ‘80s setting. And he finds he has a

fondness for that period in New York’s cultural history.

“There was more of an innocence,” in that time, he said. “It was a more

romantic period. The pre-metal detector period.”

For young people who missed it when “Fame” first flashed across the

screen, though, the story has to be viewed as something of a historical

object.

“I only saw the movie once and the only reason I saw it was for an

audition,” Aguinaga admitted.

The themes of “Fame” are something she relates to, but Aguinaga’s

approach is more hardheaded and pragmatic than that of the story’s

idealistic characters. She said she relates to Carmen, the girl in the

musical version of “Fame,” who wants to be the singer in a band.

“But I don’t want to be like her, because she has an overdose and she

dies,” Aguinaga pointed out.

Such a melodramatic fate does not interest the career-minded Aguinaga.

She has already decided that she plans to shape her performing persona to

emulate Leann Rimes and Shania Twain.

“She’s classy,” Aguinaga said of pop country crooner Twain. “She’s not

trash. Her music is beautiful. She doesn’t just sing bubble gum music.”

But if the singing gig doesn’t work out, Aguinaga says she’ll be involved

in the business side of the industry.

“I want to have my own production company and produce singers,” she said.

“If I’m not actually in front of the table, I want to be at the back of

the table.”

Such industry jargon never was part of the original “Fame” screenplay,

but times have changed. Where the drama of the movie and the musical is

derived in part from the challenges young artists have to deal with in

figuring out who they are, Aguinaga wrestles with a different, more adult

kind of dilemma: She knows exactly who she wants to be, and has to figure

out how to create herself in accordance with her vision.

“You learn to make your own decisions,” she said. “I’ve known for a long

time that I want to be a singer and make a living out of it. That’s a

decision that most kids don’t make until they’re like 20. You have to

make a choice.”

“Fame -- The Musical”

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa

Mesa

WHEN: Tuesday through Jan. 2; show times vary

HOW MUCH: $18 to $52

PHONE: (714) 740-7878