Footloose at Milton Keynes Theatre Review
Footloose
Milton Keynes Theatre
17-22 October 2016
www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes
Reviewed by Louise Styles
Last night I had the pleasure of going to see Footloose the musical at Milton Keynes Theatre. It was my first visit here and I was very impressed. The theatre itself was much larger than I anticipated and yet had an intimate feeling at the same time. From where I was sat I imagine that any seat in this venue would give you a great view of the stage be it stalls, circle or upper circle. Before the performance we enjoyed some snacks and drinks in the Piano bar while a gentleman really did play the piano. It was a very nice way to start the evening! The thing I was most impressed with at this theatre was the menu placed at our seats in the auditorium. After downloading the ATG app its possible for you to place an order for drinks, snacks and ice-cream which can be prepaid with a card and then delivered to you in your seat during the interval – a genius idea!
The show itself was a great mix of humour and emotion as it charts the story of American teenagers who are banned from public dancing. The original 80s movie, and subsequent remake in 2011, as well as the onstage productions are all based on a true story. Having packed up their life in Chicago a mother and son head to a small sleepy town to live with her brother. We follow their story via Ren, the son, who has to make new friends and fit in, whilst falling for the leading lady, Ariel – a reverends daughter, and trying to overturn the dance ban.
The cast were great in this production and opened with the famous ‘Footloose’ and lots of energy. There were other well-known songs throughout the show such as ‘Holding out for a hero’ and ‘Let’s hear it for the boy’ which you couldn’t help singing along too. The leading names for this particular show were Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan. Gareth played Willard, a heavily comical character who you see a great deal of towards the end of the first act-there’s muscles, shorts and sunglasses in there!! Maureen does a stellar job as Vi the reverends wife and Ariel’s mother. The leads, Ren and Ariel, played by Luke Baker and Hannah Price, were outstanding. Both have voices which filled the theatre and really made the story come to life from their blossoming relationship to their love of dance and dream of overturning the non-dance law. There were lots of laughs but an equal amount of more serious moments where we saw the onstage parents deal with strained relationships, personal struggles and then enlightenment at the end bringing a nice closure to the story.
One of things I enjoyed the most about the production was that the cast played the music onstage throughout the performance. It was an original idea for me to see the actor’s skill in not only the singing but the musical accompaniment too. We bumped into previous Willard actor Lee Brennan of boyband 911 during the interval, having handed the reigns over to Gareth he told me that he was so jealous he wasn’t up on the stage himself rather than watching from the audience.
A thoroughly great time was had by all in the theatre tonight and we were all up on our feet for the ‘Footloose’ finale – I challenge anyone who sees this production to come out not singing the title song over and over!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £21.40 to £46.40 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Footloose is at Milton Keynes Theatre until 22 October 2016. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 8717652.
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK9 3NZ
