Footloose The Musical At Regent Theatre, Stoke On Trent Review

Reviewed by Lindsay Burton

I for one could never imagine a world without dancing. Chicago teen Ren McCormack (Joshua Hawkins) soon finds out when his father walks out, forcing him and his mother to move in with his uncle in the middle of nowhere, Bomont. He struggles with the town’s slow pace, especially being used to Chicago’s fast paced lifestyle. Unfortunately, the residents of Bomont live under a curfew and harsh restrictions imposed by the minister to curb impropriety

Based on the 1980s screen sensation Footloose with some extra classic 80s hits dropped in, this is a cast of all singing, all dancing and also all playing young talent. The old fuddies in Bomont have forced a total ban on rock ‘n’ roll and dancing. The ban is led by an uptight preacher named Shaw Moore (Darren Day), who is still grieving because he lost a child in a car wreck five years ago. To the Reverend Moore, dancing and rock lead to booze and drugs. As his friend, Willard, (Jake Quickenden) has an enjoyable comic understanding, full of nervous gestures and eyebrows which arch in incredulity at Ren’s carefree exploits. In addition to his broad torso and tall posture, his body makes him seem like a comic prop – like the awkwardness of someone who has a good physique but doesn’t know how to show it off. In Ren’s big numbers, Joshua Hawkins has a loose, nimble style that made the audience go wild. Ren falls in love with the preacher’s daughter Ariel (Lucy Munden). He also has the usual standard showdowns with the locals, including the high school bully, Chuck (Tom Mussell). Ren decides what this town needs is a dance. His assignment, should he choose to accept it, is to win the approval of the preacher and the town council to allow dancing and to ultimately win the girl.

The set is expertly designed with strong, metal flats taking over the stage representing the domineering conservative influence. Costumes fantastically represented those of the times and added to the atmosphere of this classic 80’s genre. The show’s is a celebration of music and dance, and Matt Cole’s choreography is fab for the amount of available space and the number of actors in any given scene.

Its greatest highlights are the songs which couldn’t be much catchier. Lucy Munden naturally breezes through “Holding Out for a Hero”. Despite this, the show ignores the real message of the story: of protesting sexual diversity and resisting stereotypes of irresponsible youth, which a musical like Spring Awakening better conveys. It appears that the two mothers and Ariel are temporarily without voices – in “Learning to be Silent”, the mother and the daughter echo each other while Ariel hums the final words, muzzled. I thoroughly enjoyed Ren and Ariel’s rendition of Almost Paradise although I feel that the female vocals very much outshone their male counterparts.

I watched this show with my 8, 9 and 12-year-old children and even though there were some choice words here and there, the majority of the show was suitable for all ages.

Rating: We rate this show 4/5 due to the catchy songs and great vocals.

The show is on from Monday 21st March until Saturday 23rd March 2022

Tickets start from £13.00 and can be purchased at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/footloose/regent-theatre/calendar/2022-03-24.