The original film 'Footloose' is something of a classic in modern history, an iconic film that
featured Kevin Bacon in the lead role and some great performances from John
Lithgow and Sarah Jessica Parker amongst others. Directed by Herbert Ross, it tells the story
of Ren McCormack who is a teenager from Chicago and his move to a small town
called Bomont where dancing has been outlawed and the whole town is led by the
local minister and his conservative ways.
'Footloose' became a stage
musical in 1998 and has had several incarnations since then, the latest of
which was the version I saw at the Opera House in Manchester. Additional lyrics and the stage adaptation is by Dean Pitchford, (writer of the original screenplay), as well as using some of the musical talent used in the original movie
like Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman.
Ren McCormack (Joshua
Hawkins) moves with his mother from the big city of Chicago to the very small
town of Bomont and immediately you get a sense of the dynamics of the
characters. Hawkins does an admirable
job portraying the Kevin Bacon role but in the lead role in this musical I was
left with a feeling of being underwhelmed – perhaps this was because his voice
was not quite strong enough for this character or perhaps that he was
surrounded by more rounded performers with much more experience than Hawkins. It simply didn’t feel like he
was taking the lead role.
Where I think the casting
works in this production is Willard Hewitt (Jake Quickenden) who displayed some
expert comedy timing in his role as the small town local boy who lacks the
confidence to make a move on his sweetheart Rusty (Oonagh Cox). The two of them demonstrate an on-stage
chemistry that puts some of the other relationships in the shade.
Darren Day as the Reverend
Shaw Moore was also very believable in the role as the senior figure who was
mostly responsible for the dancing ban. His vocal performances when they came along were also exemplary –
playing the elder statesman role is not something I have seen in Day previously,
but the casting here was superb.
A special mention must
also go out to Lucy Munden who played Ren’s love interest and the Reverend’s
daughter Ariel. She had the significant
task of carrying off one of the biggest numbers in the show, Jim Steinman’s
“Holding Out For A Hero” but she delivered this with ease and to much delight
in the audience. This complimented a
really good performance from Munden and one she should be very happy with.
The whole choreography of
Matt Cole must also be called out for special praise, the sequences were
clearly planned with true precision and delivered expertly by those on
stage. The final sequence of the Kenny
Loggins’ classic “Footloose” with all of the performers on stage gives this
whole production an amazing crescendo to the point where the audience are on
their feet and dancing in the aisles.
'Footloose' has a great plot
and should translate to an on-stage musical seamlessly but if I am totally
honest I walked away thinking that it was fun but overall just a little
underwhelming. It’s hard to pinpoint
exactly why this was the case and maybe it was simply because the musical
numbers we were all waiting for were those classics from the film or maybe the
film is simply too iconic that we cannot help ourselves but compare. Either way it is a fun production even if it
makes you feel like it should have been just that little bit better.
Reviewer - John Fish
on - 2.3.22
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