British director Alan Parker, who would go on to further prove his mettle with musical subjects with The Commitments and Evita, scored an early success with this song and dance spectacle that is guaranteed to have your feet tapping, even if its characters remain at a distance. Focusing on the success and failure of the latest intake of students at New York's High School for the Performing Arts, the film is episodic in nature but fired along by rapid editing and a thumping good score. And, despite lulls, the energy of the performances carries it through to a suitably moving climactic graduation concert.

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