Review: Footloose

To quote one of the best songs in this stage show based on the 1984 movie ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’. The individual in question is Gareth Gates, formerly on The X Factor and now musical theatre star.

He has also, the programme notes helpfully inform us, invented a coconut drink which I can’t resist mentioning as it goes by the name of Cuppanut. But I digress. In this tale of religion, love, loss and rock’n’roll he provides the comic relief. It’s unexpected as we think of him as a singer but he proves a real scene-stealer as the simple-minded, bashful Willard.

Apart from a lack of brainpower, Willard can’t dance. Mind you, this isn’t such a drawback in the small town of Bomont as dancing is against the law, having been banned following a fatal car crash involving teenagers, drink and drugs. New teenager in town Ren (fleet-footed Joshua Dowen) urges his fellow students to rebel against this crackdown while taking a fancy to the local church minister’s rule-breaking daughter Ariel (Hannah Price)

Director Racky Plews turns this stage version into an actor-musician show with the multi-talented cast playing a variety of instruments on stage instead of having a conventional band. This throws up various delights, not least a roller-skating waitress who uses the horn of her saxophone to collect empty cups.

There is energy a-plenty among the young cast although the ‘oldies’ (Reuven Gershon and Maureen Nolan as the spoilsport minister and his wife) finally step out in the finale.

But it’s Gates who steals the show, making the most of his revealing moment during the production’s big staging of Bonnie Tyler’s powerhouse song Holding Out For A Hero.

To May 6.