There’s only one name on everybody’s lips, and it’s that of flamboyant teenager Jamie New.

Smash hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, starring former Strictly dancer Kevin Clifton and X Factor winner Sam Bailey, will be sashaying into the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury this summer.

The show, which follows 16-year-old Jamie, a working-class boy from Sheffield who has big dreams of being in the spotlight, is currently touring the country.

Alongside musical theatre star Ivano Turco, who will be playing the titular character of Jamie, will be a couple of familiar faces.

Kevin Clifton, who joined the Strictly Come Dancing team in 2013 and won the glitterball trophy with his now-girlfriend and documentary maker Stacey Dooley, will be stepping into the high heels of Jamie’s drag queen mentor, Loco Chanelle.

“I’ve never done drag before, and I knew that would be a big challenge, and it was a character I could really just throw myself into and look different and be different,” says the 41-year-old actor. “I love it. They talk about this within the show but [getting into drag] is like putting armour on. You feel transformed.”

The former British Latin Champion, who made his panto debut this Christmas in the Marlowe Theatre’s production of Aladdin, left the BBC dance contest in 2019 to pursue a career in theatre.

He has since appeared in shows such as Rock of Ages, Singin’ in the Rain and Strictly Ballroom.

Singer Sam Bailey first rose to fame after winning The X Factor in 2013 and will be appearing in the touring production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie as schoolteacher Miss Hedge.

“She’s been told by the headmaster to deal the fatal blow of ‘you can’t do that’ and I don’t think she wants to but she has to,” says Sam, speaking of her character in the show. “She’s hard but she’s got a soft centre, and you see little pockets of that.”

She achieved the Christmas No. 1 with her cover of Demi Lovato’s Skyscraper that same year and went on to support Beyoncé on tour in 2014.

In the past decade, she has played Mama Morton in Chicago and appeared in the likes of 42nd Street and Beauty and the Beast.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will be at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury from Monday, June 3 to Saturday, June 8. You can book tickets online here.

You can also book by calling 01227 787787.