Footloose Review
WORDS: Ryan Heeger //
New Theatre ::?Mon 6 Oct
Eighties' musical revivals. Gotta love 'em. Fame, Flashdance, The Wedding Singer... okay so the last one was a nineties release, but was set in the eighties and had a suitable soundtrack, so shut up. Personally I won't be satisfied until The Breakfast Club gets a live makeover, with the original score (not an original score), complete with Dirty Sanchez's Pritchard as John Bender and Christopher Biggins as Principal Vernon ("Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns!").
Until that circus rolls into town, I'll make do with whatever comes beforehand and has been spawned by the decade of angst. Based on the 1984 Kevin Bacon vehicle of the same name, Footloose is based on true events in a hicksville town concerning the outlaw of dancing by the local parish after a tragic accident wipes out a car full of young?revelers.
If you've seen the film then you'll appreciate the (almost) scene-for-scene live version, which has some outstanding en masse routines and plenty of infectious energy. There are a few distractions, particularly in pint-size lead man Stephen Webb's overtly camp take on Ren with his skin-tight white t-shirt, tussled blond mop and seriously iffy American accent (at some points slipping into Corrie territory). Also, one of lead squeeze Ariel's lackies ? Wendy Jo (Claire-Louise Mealor)?? looks as though she was cast by the same agency that look after Jordan.?
Nitpicking aside, the show is stolen by Simon Limpkin as bonehead Willard (played originally by Chris Penn) ? who lampoons the film's original character to perfection ? and the bigger, all cast dances including the titular finale.?
Everybody cut footloose? You knows it! ? ? ? ? ?
