We’ve had a run of 80s inspired productions on our stages recently and as I sat in the New Theatre in Cardiff for the opening night of FOOTLOOSE, I was wondering why. Then the music began and the stage literally lit up with colour, dance and song, and I knew the answer – cause we blooming love the 80s.
I suppose nothing typifies that era more than Footloose and the stage musical is here in South Wales for the rest of this week.
Originally a Kevin Bacon movie, which took the world by storm with it’s incredible dance routines, the catchiest soundtrack you’ll hear anywhere, but also a proper story which seemed to resonate with the audience who appreciated the movie more than the critics at the time.
The story pretty much follows that of the film (and for the sake of clarity we mean the original not the 2011 remake). Ren was played this evening by understudy DANIEL MILES who was terrific – you may get to see JOSHUA HAWKINS this week. He’s a teenager who moves to a small American town with his Mum (WENDY PAVER), only to find that rock music and dancing are banned, all thanks to the efforts of a local minister, Reverend Shaw Moore (DARREN DAY).
As well as trying to battle the ban on dance and generally rebelling against the Reverend, he goes and falls in love with the ministers’ equally rebellious daughter Ariel (LUCY MUNDEN).
Don’t for one minute think the story seems far-fetched, Footloose is actually based on a town in Oklahoma. They had banned dancing since its founding in 1898 thanks to the local Reverend. Because of the ban, the town never held a prom. It wan’t until 1980, the junior class of Elmore City’s high school made national news when they requested permission to hold a junior prom and it was granted. The movie was released in 1984.
So as bright and fun as the musical is, it still has its serious side and deals with some real teenage issues.
The show has former X Factor contestant (2014) and Dancing on Ice champ JAKE QUICKENDEN in the role of Willard, Ren’s wingman, who also shares some great lines with Rusty (OONAGH COX). Their loves starts to bloom as they too try to break free from the oppressive regime of the town.
It’s worth saying that Jake really has carved out a successful career away from the TV talent show. He’s been in countless TV and stage productions and delivers a great performance here as Willard.
Now Willard isn’t the sharpest pin in the sewing box and seemingly can’t cut it on the dance floor. But you don’t put a former Dancing on Ice winner (2018) into this role if he isn’t going to bust some moves – and bust them Jake most certainly does.
There’s a lovely moment in the show which leads up to the song ‘Mama Says‘, which Jake delivers superbly. It may not be the best known song, but it’s very much one of the stand out routines.
He also features in the classic ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy‘ routine. Jake is very much the eye-candy in this scene which is also aided by a more than generous helping of audience screams as his ‘Kylie-esque‘ gold hot pants are revealed.
As Willard’s biggest fan, Rusty is always there cheering him on, which takes us to a fantastic rendition of the show and movie favourite, the aforementioned ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy‘. Deniece Williams performs this Oscar winning song on the soundtrack but I can tell you that Oonagh gives Ms Williams more than a run for her money. It was a joyous performance and one we all found difficult not to sing along to in the audience.
Completing the cast are Anna Westlake (Lulu), Alex Fobbester (Bickle), Ben Barrow (Wes), Ben Mabberley (Jeter), Holly Ashton (Vi Moore), Jess Barker (Wendi-Jo), Samantha Richards (Urleen), Tom Mussell (Chuck), with Lucy Ireland as off-stage swings.
Before we go any further, let’s see what the opening night audience thought of the show. Check out their reaction for yourself, with some nice interaction from Jake and Darren who caused a bit of a commotion at the stage door, and happily signed and chatted to the waiting theatre goers.
Which brings us nicely onto the music and songs. It seems more and more that actors on stage are playing their own instruments, we had it last week in Beautiful and again in Footloose. Now don’t get us wrong, we do love a great musical theatre band, and for most shows they are an integral part of the performance, but for something like Footloose, it works so well that the instruments are played live on stage.
The cast are not a full on band as such but the way they seamlessly blend the choreography and instruments into the show is a nice touch and gives us a chance to see who is playing what and when.
The rest of the Footloose band are towards the back of the set and while separate, still fell very connected to the performance. MIKE NICHOLS is the Musical Director and also thumps that bass, while BOB CARR keeps perfect time on the drums, high above the on-stage action.
We always like to celebrate a bit of ‘Wales‘ on the stage and Footloose is no exception, although forgive me, this one is really tenuous.
It’s easy to forget that the soundtrack to Footloose is spectacular. Back in the day it cleaned up something like six or seven of the really big awards, including best song at the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe’s. It was also the album that pushed Michael Jackson’s Thriller off the number one slot.
One of the other Footloose fan favourites was performed in the movie by our own Bonnie Tyler who was born in Skewen in Neath, but it fell to Ariel to grab this song and make it her own, and Lucy Munden gave an outstanding rendition, and actually a brilliant performance in the show.
She also performed a duet with Daniel (Ren) of ‘Almost Paradise‘. Daniel incidentally is excellent and definitely has that Kevin Bacon thing going on throughout the show. He can dance for sure and has a boundless energy on stage which suits the character so well.
Do remember however that it is likely to be Joshua you see at other performances – we hear he is really good too.
It’s also nice to see Darren Day step away and tackle something with a little more grit. He told us recently that the reverend was on his bucket list of things to do……
“I desperately wanted to play him, so to get the opportunity is incredibly exciting for me and I feel deeply grateful.
Having a teenage daughter myself (in real life!) I have a lot of ‘method’ experience to draw upon! It’s tough letting your ‘little princess’ out into the big bad world!”
Darren still has that amazing voice, which sounds as fresh and powerful as ever. I have to admit, he really shone in this role and brought something special to the performance. His interaction with the audience at the end was the sign of an ‘old-pro’ too (sorry Darren, not so old…).
The bond between Darren and his on stage wife is really good too, with Holly putting in a great performance as Vi.
The show not only sounds but also looks fantastic. Multi award winning SARA PERKS designed both the set and costumes on this production, and she has recreated that ‘back to the 80s‘ feel perfectly.
The show does touch on some serious matters – as I said the story is based on a real life town which not only banned dancing but also school proms, apparently the real life Reverend said “no good has ever come from a dance“.
Well, I can tell you that plenty of good came from this dance filled show. FOOTLOOSE is two hours 30 minutes of non-stop feel good fun, non-stop hits and non-stop smiling from start to finish. As they say in the song ‘It’s got be Larger Than Life” and Footloose most definitely is.
As an audience we waited patiently for our turn to ‘cut loose‘, and when it finally came in the show mega-mix, we could barely contain our excitement. I looked around and there wasn’t one bottom sat on a theatre seat. We sang and danced till the cast kicked us out the door wanting more.
Did we enjoy it and would we recommend it for a night out this week? In a show that will have you clapping and singing from start to finish of course we do. With a soundtrack of 80s classics (see below), FOOTLOOSE is the perfect night out, for almost everyone. There is a little bit of sweary stuff and a couple of teenage sexual events but nothing to put anyone off.
Interestingly, there were a lot of younger members in the audience and they clearly have had the soundtrack on repeat, as they were mouthing along to every word, lapping up every moment of the show.
FOOTLOOSE is at the New Theatre in Cardiff through to Saturday 4th June. Performances are at 7:30pm each evening with a 2:30pm matinee on Wednesday and Saturday. There’s a whole range of ticket prices and a variety of concessions. For more details, and to get yours, go HERE.
And you can check out our show feature HERE.
And our interview with Darren Day and Designer Sara Perks HERE.
