Footloose the Musical

This was only my second experience of Footloose the Musical live on stage and first and foremost I have to say this was the best production I have seen by EMUS in all my years of reviewing in the East Midlands.  From the first bars of “Footloose” to the final curtain each member of the cast threw every ounce of talent and energy they had.  This drove the audience to their feet at the end of the night to show their appreciation of the feast of entertainment, skill, passion and full-on adrenalin that had powered the production throughout.

Although in many ways Footloose is an ensemble production it is essential that the key leads make the relationships between each other, and their telling of their backstories believable and not forced in any way.  In both of these aspects the talented young cast shone through.

Bethan Moore brought just the right combination of confidence, vulnerability just below the surface,  and rebellion against the constraints of her father the Rev Shaw.  Drew Boswell made the Rev Shaw a very three-dimensional character and was not a “cliched puritan” but rather a man trying to protect his town and family from the dangers of the outside world in the only way he knows how.  Izzy Cole was the perfect Vi trying in every situation to support Ariel without antagonising her husband. 

Joel Dawson was excellent as Ren, full of energy, sarcasm, empathy, roller-skating prowess when needed and the attitude and self-confidence to disrupt the status-quo he finds in the small town.  He used his talents to win the youth of the town over and then encourage Ariel to re-evaluate both what and who is really important to her.  His vocal delivery with Bethan in “Paradise” was one of the highlights of the evening.  Sky Stacey was spot on as Ren’s mother forced to leave the big city through no fault of her own and at all times Sky brought clarity and superb delivery to her vocal work in close harmony numbers including “Learning to be silent”.  Evan Hagan had the thankless task of bringing some audience sympathy for Chuck the town bully and thanks to his earthy delivery in the “Girl Gets Around” and avoiding overacting throughout the night his performance was a great success.

As you probably know, the comedy of the production is principally in the hands of the actors playing Rusty and Willard and here again, the EMUS cast came into their own with Katie Chamberlain and James O’Boyle delivering two stand-out performances both in terms of acting and also in musical delivery with great timing throughout.

As I said at the start of this review, Footloose is definitely a ensemble production and the quality of the various members of the cast playing smaller roles and also their contribution to the large musical set pieces is essential to the success of the whole production.  Once more the EMUS cast delivered all the huge highlights throughout the night and very much deserved their name checks at the end of the evening before the extended curtain calls which were an unexpected highlight!.  So many many congratulations to Livvi Hickling and Gabriella Tilley as Wendy Jo and Urleen the “Greek Chorus”, Harry O’Boyle, Elis Morre, Rosey Malins, Eleanor Cooper, Eloise Chamberlain, Yasmin Aldous, Sophie Foreman, Jessie Gatehouse, Kai Hagan, Toby Wykes, Lauren Hazeldine, Lowri Moore, Grace Sims, Martha Smart, Jessie Jerram and Blake Hagan.

Productions of this quality do not just happen, the effort, enthusiasm and energy that the production team had put in during the rehearsal period was clear for all the see.   Acting and stage presence were all on point as was the use of the effective set and lighting which very much supported all the scenes so congratulations to Chris.  Musical delivery and clarity of diction was on show throughout the evening so nice work from George and also excellent band sound balance from Dave and the sound team.  Choreography was another highlight for me as all cast members looked comfortable (ok joyous) with their movement throughout the evening so kudos to Hayden and Abbie.  The band were on great form and lighting and costume completed the overall experience.

Congratulations all, a great night in the theatre!

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