Footloose The Musical continues at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh until 20 February and then tours until 8 October.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
On the face of it, a musical based on the now-iconic 1984 film about a young city kid who moves to a small town, in which dancing and rock‘n’roll have been banned, has plenty going for it. Footloose The Musical benefits from inheriting a solid-enough teen love story that’s given some depth by its intergenerational conflict, focus on grief, and the incestuous nature of small-town politics. Plus the name’s a sufficiently important part of 1980s popular culture to still bring in the crowds.
In many respects, this touring production from Sell A Door Theatre Company is an excellent night out; it’s bright, breezy and in Luke Baker (as city-boy Ren McCormack) and Hannah Price (as love interest Ariel, the minister’s rebellious daughter) has two young leads full of charisma, charm and just the right level of annoying adolescence. They are supported by a talented cast who, as a whole, gels well, although the likes of Nigel Lister (as the Reverend Shaw Moore) and Maureen Nolan (as his wife Vi) are somewhat overshadowed by the talented threesome of Natasha Brown, Miracle Chance and Joanna Sawyer as Ariel’s three best friends.
And yet… the show’s undoubtedly unbalanced by a score lacking in any real stand-out moments not inherited from the original film. Title song ‘Footloose’ and the Jim Steinman/Dean Pitchford break-out success story ‘Holding Out For a Hero’ are both, quite naturally, given real prominence in this stage version. Bizarrely, though, the latter actually feels somewhat shoe-horned into the show via an incongruous conversation about King Arthur and Camelot. Elsewhere, even a potentially good song like ‘Learning to Be Silent’ – sung by Ren and Ariel’s mothers – lacks any impact; it’s a mere statement of stasis rather than a sign of things moving on.
Another limiting factor is the decision to have the music played live by the cast on stage; clearly they do a good enough job, but there never feels as if there’s a really good reason for it, bar saving the cost of having a separate group of musicians in the orchestra pit. It also limits the potential choreography – apt enough for the story, but unhelpful in ensuring any ‘Wow!’ factor on stage.
But the strangest element is the stunt casting. As Ren, Baker – whose recent stage credits include American Idiot, Sunny Afternoon and Hairspray – is the principal protagonist, and impressively holds our attention while on stage. Yet he’s robbed of being the show’s star, an honour instead placed on whoever’s playing good-natured, country-boy Willard – a role now reshaped for the benefit of any former pop star whom the producers think will put bums on seats. It’s already been announced that former 911 singer Lee Brennan will make his musical theatre debut as Willard later on in the tour but, for the time, the show’s centre of attention is Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates.
Gates at least has some history when it comes to musical theatre, and makes a fair enough attempt at the naive Willard, but in terms of stage persona and physicality, he nevertheless feels totally miscast. Wilfully, the producers are clearly relying on the audience’s existing affection for the performer rather than any arising from the character. Arguably, they’re also after the audience’s excitement at seeing Gates’ lean, muscular physique during the gratuitously out-of-character display of male flesh that’s part of the big ‘Holding Out For a Hero’ number – the kind of objectification which would doubtless have had protestors outside the theatre if it had been asked of a woman.
This touring version of Footloose The Musical is, without doubt, a professional, well-machined production that’s worth seeing, but it’s not without problems and it’ll never becomes a night to remember.
Paul F Cockburn
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