Footloose

Celebrating 40 years, and thus becoming Aberdeen’s longest running youth theatre group, GizGiz decided to put on this archetypical teen musical – the perfect vehicle to showcase the talents of this group of 34 8-18 year olds plus one more senior – in form of Assistant Director Dylan Shearer. This show runs the full gambit of emotions from laughter to tears as we follow the story of Ren and Ariel’s relationship from indifferent classmates to friendship and finally to love and understanding. Josh McPherson as Ren gave an outstanding performance as the teenager transferred from his familiar big city surroundings to the small town mentality of Bomont where everything deemed fun for teenagers – but especially dancing – is frowned upon. The character Ren loves dancing and the actor portraying him has to have excellent dancing skills and these Josh certainly had – along with a good strong singing voice and acting. In all these attributes he was equally matched by Lilly Bannerman as preacher’s rebellious daughter Ariel. Their duet “Almost Paradise” in Act Two was spine tingling. One of the other musical highlights for me was the trio “Learning to be Silent” sung by Ariel and her mother Vi Moore (Erin Mehigan) and Ren’s mother Ethel (Gemma Murdoch) its message resonating with many in the audience. There were also the upbeat musical highlights such as “Holding Out For A Hero” and “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” featuring Ariel and her girl friends Wendy Jo (Charlie Pocock-Fisher), Urleen (Emily Law) and the flame haired Rusty (Ciara Hendry). Rusty’s blossoming romance with gawky, socially awkward (and dance-phobic) Willard Hewitt brought much of the humour to the piece. Willard was played to superb comic effect by Nathan Batchu - he only had to appear on stage for the audience to start smiling and his song “Mama Says” was a hoot! Corey Adam as Reverend Shaw Moore was a revelation in his portrayal of a man struggling with his duty to protect his community and his love for his daughter Ariel. His magnificent voice soared in his solo “Heaven Help Me”. There always has to be a bad boy in these stories and here it is bully Chuck Cranston played by a black-clad Logan McKerron. Strong support was given by Maya Bowes (Lulu Warnicker). Matthew Smith (Wes Warnicker/Travis/Jetter/Cowboy Bob), Dylan Shearer (Coach Dunbar), Morgan Hosie (Eleanor Dunbar) and Hannah Brown (Principle Clark). The ensemble singing and movement was of a very high standard and they attacked the opening and closing renditions of “Footloose” and the Act Two Opening of “Still Rockin’” with enthusiasm and bags of energy. Good use was made of the relatively simple, multi-level set and costuming was appropriate to the characters and era. The band under conductor Matthew Tosh played the various styles of music well and were a great support to the vocalists. Well done everyone for a super show fully deserving of the standing ovation and congratulations on your 40th anniversary. Here’s to many more successful productions!

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