Footloose. Footloose. Kick of your Sunday shoes. We all remember the song but how does this
translate to a stage musical of the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon? The story is of Ren McCormack who leaves
Chicago with his mum for Bomont, a small town in the mid west. This town is a culture shock from the big city
of Chicago and to top it all off, dancing is banned. Yes, they actually passed a law to say you are
not allowed to dance anywhere within the town boundaries. Ren cannot believe this and challenges it to
which he is labelled a troublemaker. This is a church-going community who believe
everything Reverend Shaw Moore says. He
has the power over the town. And over his family, his wife Vi Moore and his
daughter, Ariel.
Maureen Nolan
plays Vi and she plays a very straight laced wife of the Reverend. Maureen is a million miles away from that
disco hit I’m In The Mood For Dancing as she takes on the mediator between her
husband and daughter. Rev Shaw is played
by David J Higgins and owns the stage with his authority and presence.
Ariel has three
female friends and together they are a bit boy mad. There is a similarity between their friendship
and the four Sex And The City girls.
Ariel is
Carrie. The leader of the pack and a
woman who knows what she doesn’t want even if she doesn’t know what she does
want. Ariel is played by Hannah Price
who is definitely going to be as successful as Sarah Jessica Parker. Wendy-Jo is boy mad – so much like Samantha. Natasha Brown plays Wendy-Jo and makes the
role her own. Rusty is a bit crazy and
with her red hair is obviously Miranda but with a personality implant of
Columbia from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rusty is played by Joanna Sawyer
and has an amazing voice. Urleen is like
charlotte with her dark hair and quite manner and is played by Miracle Chance.
Rusty is crazy
for Willard. Willard quickly becomes
Ren’s friend but is a bit slow in realising how to talk to girls. With Ren’s help this is only going in one
direction. Willard is played by Gareth
Gates and he absolutely steals the show. He is funny, great at physically being Willard
and when he gets out of those dungarees – OH BOY! He is so fit he could be in
The Full Monty! He gets a lot of the
best lines as the humorous sidekick. Ren
is played by Luke Baker and is great as the cool kid. He can sing and dance too. A perfect leading man.
The show has
some great numbers in it including well known songs such as Holding Out For A Hero
and Let’s Hear It For The Boy as well as some lesser known songs for the show
such as The Girl Gets Around, Mama Says and I Can’t Stand Still.
If you want a
good time and your feet want to dance, forget Bomont – get along to Milton
Keynes Theatre where this show is on until 22 October.
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