Footloose: The Musical at The Little Theatre Leicester Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Mel Randle
Last night myself and my daughter (9) went along to The Little Theatre in Leicester to see the musical Footloose performed by Wigston Amateur Operatic Society. It’s worth taking a moment to mention the theatre because this was our first visit and it’s a really lovely little venue. Owned by a non-profit organisation and reliant on volunteers for the day-to-day running, it seems to have a long history and a great programme of events on throughout the year, with something for everyone. Tucked away in a back street in the middle of Leicester city centre, with ample car parks surrounding it, it’s a venue definitely worth a visit. The auditorium is not huge and the rake of the seats is good so the view of the stage was brilliant. Overall we had a really good experience.
Now to the show! Based on the 1980’s film starring Kevin Bacon, it is a story of Ren, a high school student who moves from the city to a small farming community, only to find adjustment to his new life hard, further impeded by a town ban on dancing. It’s a typical American high school story from that time, yet despite being a child of the 80’s, I’ve never actually seen the film. This is not essential – everybody knows the song , right? – because it’s a really easy storyline to follow.
Despite being performed by an ‘amateur’ Operatic Society, I feel the word amateur does them an injustice. The whole production was worthy of a ‘professional’ title. The cast is made up of a real mix of people but you could tell they all had one thing in common, and that was that they loved being on that stage and they gave it their all. I was slightly concerned when I heard them start talking in a deep south American accent – surely the whole cast can’t pull that off for two and a half hours!! But they did and as I settled into it I didn’t even notice it was all put on. My favourite cast member was most certainly Ben Bromley playing the goof Willard. Ben would definitely fit right in an American teen movie as the hapless High School nerd!! Other noticeable performances for me were Chloe Drury as Ariel and Martin Green as the Reverend Shaw Moore.
The set was incredible, especially for a show that is performing for only a week! The scenery, props and scene changes were better than I have seen in some touring productions so a big shout out to the set designer and team!
And now we can’t talk about this show without mentioning the music! We all know ‘that’ song, but the rest of the score was made up of classic 80’s songs such as ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ and ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boys’ and what I assume are original songs for the musical. All were delivered with high energy and accompanied by a live band behind a curtain at the rear of the stage. The evening was rounded off with a fantastic Megamix (and encore) by the entire company to ensure everyone left with a jig in their step!!
All in all we had a fantastic evening – the perfect show for a light-hearted, nostalgic toe-tapping trip back to the 80’s. But if you’re not as old as me, it doesn’t matter, my daughter had a thoroughly entertaining evening too!!
Rating: 5/5
Footloose is showing at The Little Theatre, Leicester until Saturday 7th June 2025.
Ticket prices are all £19
For more information and to book, visit https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/whats-on/footloose-the-musical/