Footloose the musical is of course based on the 1984 hit movie starring Keven Bacon in ‘that vest’ and the stage version features all the hit songs you’d expect to cut loose to, and more. It comes to Oxford after two critically acclaimed tours and a West End run, refreshed and revived for 2022, and staring TV personalities Darren Day (I associate him with being engaged to seemingly everyone in the 90s…) and Jake Quickenden (an X-Factor contestant who went on to win Dancing on Ice and star in in Hollyoaks, amongst other things).
The show tells the story of Ren McCormack (played by Joshua Hawkins), a teenager from Chicago who moves to the small town of Bomont where he learns the local Reverend (Day) has banned dancing, music, and alcohol. Ren quickly befriends two-left-footed Willard (Quickenden) and together they set about bringing the good times back by trying to convince the Reverend to allow them to throw a dance party.
We might all be keen to talk about America’s readiness to enforce overly controlling laws on its population right now, but Footloose doesn’t concern itself with anything too political, so don’t expect anything radical on this front. We all know now, of course, what it feels like to have fun banned from our towns, so we might resonate a little more strongly with the teenagers of Bomont than before. It seemed an outlandish and unlikely scenario when I last watched the movie; now, totally relatable. But this show is first and foremost a celebration of how good it feels to express yourself through dance and music. The choreography is a joy to watch and you’ll be treated to live performances of 80s belters such as Holding Out for a Hero and of course the knee-jerking (in a good way) title track Footloose. I wonder if perhaps watching a show like this right now, when we’re still grateful to be ‘allowed’ to celebrate together, enhances the experience somewhat.
I was delighted by Hawkins’s portrayal of Ren – quite different to Bacon’s in the movie – he fizzes as an energetic cheeky scamp as opposed to the more complex tortured soul Bacon conveys, but why would you even try to match Bacon’s Ren? You can’t.
Lucy Munden makes for a suitably sassy Ariel (love interest to Ren and daughter of the party-pooping Reverend), captivating yet unreachable, just as a preacher’s daughter should be. Oonagh Cox plays the affably daft Rusty and delivers a cracking rendition of Denise William’s Oscar-nominated song Let’s Hear It For The Boy. Quickenden does somewhat steal the show as salt-of-the-earth Willard who we watch transform from clumsy farm-hand to grooving dance God, complete with golden underpants.
I loved how the cast all played instruments throughout the show, seamlessly switching from being upfront under the spotlight to then slipping off to pop on their headphones and take up the piano out back, for example. I’m was particularly struck by a sense of non-hierarchical team spirit, and I wonder if that was deliberate to convey that feeling of unity we experience when we dance together (or indeed do anything as a group) or just me looking for meaning where there is none (one of my favourite past-times). Whatever, it worked for me: if you’re looking for a bit of 80s nostalgia, some uplifting dance numbers, and to witness some excellent young talent, you’re in for a treat.