Footloose
Saturday 21st May at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Cast
Ren McCormack… Adam C. Booth (u/s/)
Ethel McCormack… Carys Gray
Reverend Shaw Moore… Steven Pinder
Vi Moore… Karen Ascoe
Ariel Moore… Lorna Want
Rusty… Jodie Jacobs
Urleen… Keisha Amponsa Banson
Wendy Jo… Tanya Robb
Chuck Cranston… Harry Neale
Lyle… Simon Campbell
Travis/Cowboy Bob… Simon Hardwick
Willard Hewitt… Giovanni Spano
Principal Clark… Michael Palmer
Normally I would have immediately passed up on Footloose, a cheesy American dance musical based on a cheesy American dance film. However, it held one redeeming feature for me, it had been the first musical I appeared in with my school and so held a special place in my heart. So, I decided to brave the unknown and attend the UK Tour in Nottingham.
I was, somewhat impressed. Whilst nothing removed the cheesiness from this production, it would perhaps have been unwise to try, as this only added to the enjoyment. I knew several of the songs even before appearing inthe show myself and perhaps it was because of this that they seemed the best performed, "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Let's Hear it for the Boy" being particular stand-out group numbers. Of the young cast, while the two leads performed admirably, the ones to watch out for were Giovanni Spano and Jodie Jacobs as the comically awkward duo of Willard and Rusty. Of course, it being the role I performed myself, I was focusing primarily on Steven Pinder as the Reverend, and while at times I wished I could pin his arms down to prevent his gesticulating, I was very impressed by both his singing and acting, and somewhat jealous that got to perform "I Confess" at the shows close (it didn't feature in our production). When the show finish and the encore called for the audience to stand and dance, I surprisingly didn't feel embarassed to do so, despite being on my own.
So if you're in for a little innocent comic enjoyment, I can heartily recommend Footloose. Just don't expect to find yourself too challenged by the plot.
I was, somewhat impressed. Whilst nothing removed the cheesiness from this production, it would perhaps have been unwise to try, as this only added to the enjoyment. I knew several of the songs even before appearing inthe show myself and perhaps it was because of this that they seemed the best performed, "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Let's Hear it for the Boy" being particular stand-out group numbers. Of the young cast, while the two leads performed admirably, the ones to watch out for were Giovanni Spano and Jodie Jacobs as the comically awkward duo of Willard and Rusty. Of course, it being the role I performed myself, I was focusing primarily on Steven Pinder as the Reverend, and while at times I wished I could pin his arms down to prevent his gesticulating, I was very impressed by both his singing and acting, and somewhat jealous that got to perform "I Confess" at the shows close (it didn't feature in our production). When the show finish and the encore called for the audience to stand and dance, I surprisingly didn't feel embarassed to do so, despite being on my own.
So if you're in for a little innocent comic enjoyment, I can heartily recommend Footloose. Just don't expect to find yourself too challenged by the plot.
Theatre Notes
- Several roles were combined for this production, including Principal Clark and Coach Dunbar (leaving Eleanor Dunbar as a single librarian) as well as Wes and Lulu Warnicker.
No comments:
Post a Comment