Footloose

A good choice of show for the this company as the majority of performers are young people;

It tells the story of Ren McCormack, a Chicago boy, who unwilling moves to a small town, Bomont.  This town forbids dancing which he finds hard to believe.

Unfortunately there were problems with the sound and over amplification of the orchestra – underscoring – so much of the dialogue was lost.   Obviously this ruined all the hard work of the company prior to presenting the production.

Ren becomes friends with Ariel (Chelsea Brownsword) the daughter of Rev Moore (Oliver Davies). The Reverend is the prime mover in preventing the young people of the town from enjoying themselves.   Ren (Jacob Worth) sang well and was an excellent mover. Eventually he wins over Reverend and the young people are able to dance again.

 Ariel’s three friends Rusty, Urleen and Wendy Jo (Zoe Twigg, Abby Evans and Shannon Whetnall) proved to be a good trio who worked well together, a highlight being “Holding out for a Hero”.

Special mention must be made of Rhys Gregory who played Willard Hewitt.  He got the character exactly right without over playing it and all his antics amused the audience, especially his musical number “Mamma Says”.

It was really nice to be able to see the faces of the girls as most of them had their long hair tied back – so often in modern shows they wear their hair partially covering their faces.

Although the minimal scenery worked well I felt that some of the scenes needed more set dressing to be fully effective.  

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