CityLife

Footloose

Footloose
The Lowry
March 28, 2011

This high-energy show first surfaced in these parts in 2004 and I said then that only time would tell if it is a stayer.

It hasn’t attained the dizzy heights of Grease or Dirty Dancing but it is still with us seven years on, so it isn’t doing too badly.

Based on the 1984 film that made a star out of Kevin Bacon, the plot follows rebel teen hero Ren, forced to move from swingin’ Chicago to small town Hicksville. He arrives in the bible-bashing backwater, falls for the also-stroppy daughter of the preacher man, and finds a cause to make a nuisance of himself with when he learns that in this neck of the woods dancing is forbidden, by law.

The score includes Holding Out For A Hero, Let’s Hear It For The Boy, Almost Paradise and the title song – all OK if you like this sort of thing.

The cast have talent, energy and commitment well beyond the call of duty and the show has been raunched up more than a little since I saw it last, now featuring much crotch-clutching dancing.

From Busted and I’m A Celebrity, featured cast name Matt Willis takes a minor role as a jealous boyfriend while ex-Brooksider Stephen Pinder makes decent sense of the killjoy role of the Reverend.

Understudy Adam Booth went on as Ren and gave a performance packed with infectious enthusiasm. He looks too old for a teen, but managed convincing characterisation, a not inconsiderable achievement in this show.

Until Saturday (April 2).