Footloose At The New Theatre, Cardiff Review
TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Mrs_Taylor
“Footloose, footloose, Kick off your Sunday Shoes” is a song that pretty much everyone has heard of. I knew the song Footloose really well but have never actually seen the film before so I was really keen to see the Musical and tap my feet along to all the 80s classics!
Cardiff New Theatre is a lovely little theatre and when I arrived at 7pm it was already incredibly busy with queues of people waiting to pick up tickets but the staff were fantastic in sorting out the queues and making sure everyone knew where to go. I took the stairs to the top as my seats were in the circle and I had a fantastic view of the stage.
The musical tells the story of Ren McCormack moving from Chicago to a small town where dancing is forbidden and how he convinces the town to hold a dance.
As is sometimes the case with opening night, the sound in the first half was not quite right. A muffling and distorting often led to some of the lyrics becoming very hard to decipher, particularly in a duet or ensemble. A fluctuation in levels was also noticeable with segments of dialogue far too quiet and in other areas the sound was way too loud. This was such a shame as without hearing the lyrics some of the songs got lost and it made it hard to follow what characters were saying.
All of the cast were incredibly talented and as well as singing, dancing and acting they also played a variety of instruments from the guitar to the saxophone and oboe. I particularly enjoyed the sound of the police siren being played from a saxophone!
The fluidity in scene change was also evident, with prop changes effortlessly rolled in by cast support, often not noticeable while elements of the scenes were ongoing.
Ren McCormack was played by Daniel Miles, one of the understudies. I’m not sure how much time they had to prepare as the show was 20 minutes late starting but he gave it everything and he worked well with Lucy Munden (who played Ariel Moore, the preacher’s daughter and Ren’s love interest).
Holly Ashton as Vi Moore (and Principal Clark!) had such an incredible voice and provided some touching moments especially when singing with Ariel Moore and Wendy Paver (playing Ethel McCormack) about learning to be silent. This contrasted with Willard Hewitt (played by Jake Quickenden) who was definitely the comic relief. He was brilliant whether he was strutting his stuff in gold hotpants while Holding out for a Hero was sung or when he was “learning” how to dance. And then you had Darren Day who was fantastic as the troubled Rev. Shaw Moore. The only issue is that the musical doesn’t seem to be sure if it is aiming to be a really meaningful touching show or if it’s aim is just to have a bit of fun but as a result some of the scenes don’t quite work.
And then the last few minutes of the show were a proper party vibe! Everyone was up on their feet clapping away and enjoying the dancing and it was such a great atmosphere.
It is such a shame the sound wasn’t right for the first half! Nevertheless I would recommend this for anyone who wants a laugh and a chance to clap along to all the songs.
Rating: 3/5
Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes (inc. interval) starting at 7.30pm
At: New Theatre, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3LN
Ticket prices: £14 – £42 and may include a £3.65 transaction fee to your order
Tickets can be booked by visiting:
https://newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/Online/tickets-footloose-cardiff-2022