Regent Theatre, Stoke – until Saturday 26th March 2022
Reviewed by Lesley Eagles
4****
Being one of the first films I saw as a teenager this production brought all the nostalgia and memories back from the 80”s with it. The obvious opening track of “Footloose” itself followed by the familiarity of other hit songs such as “Lets hear it for the boy” and “Holding out for a hero“ made for a night of fun and excitement.
Based on the 1980’s film, Footloose tells the story of teenager Ren McCormack, played by Joshua Hawkins who moves from the big city to the small town of Bomont where he discovers that both rock music and dancing are banned. As a result this fires up Ren’s rebellious spirit who becomes determined to make changes.
While attending church, Ren meets local minister Shaw Moore (Darren Day), his wife Vi (Holly Ashton) and daughter Ariel (Lucy Munden). It isn’t long before Ren sees Ariel’s defiance of her father’s authority and begins to fall for her, showing her the joy and freedom that dance can bring. Lucy Mundens professional debut as Ariel was superb showing off her faultless vocals beautifully.
Joshua Hawkin’s performance as Ren was both energetic and engaging as he buddied up with Willard Hewitt (Jake Quickenden). Willard is embarrassed at his inability to dance, therefore an amusing performance sees Ren trying to teach him to do so and help win the heart of Rusty (Oonagh Cox)
As you can imagine a combination of both Jake Quickenden’s comic facial expressions and cumbersome character made this highly entertaining.
However one of the most memorable highlights of the show was when the very likeable Quickenden’s performance resulted in him removing his dungarees to reveal some very sparkly gold hot pants… much to everyone’s delight!
Ren went on to challenge the right to change restrictions, which would allow them to dance and listen to their choice of music freely. He cleverly does this by quoting bible scriptures to convince the minister that it’s the right thing to do. Although Shaw and the council vote against Ren’s proposal, Vi convinces her husband to hear Ren out and be the father that he once was to Ariel. Fabulous vocals from both Darren Day as the minister Shaw, and his wife Vi played by Holly Ashton shared a lovely tender scene dancing together for the first time in years when Shaw finally concedes and allows the dance to go ahead.
The performers not only bought the acting and vocals but also played multiple instruments too. Quite how they did it I’m not quite sure with the energy that was required for the dancing alone. However they did so brilliantly showing off their musicality to perfection.
By the end of the show, much like the town of Bomont, everyone in the audience were on their feet singing and dancing to the old movie classics