It took around 15 years for Footloose, the 1984 film, to become Footloose the stage musical.
But it was worth the wait.
Its energetic dance moves, hit songs, and feel-good vibes have made it one of the most performed stage shows of all time.
It tells the story of Ren, a Chicago teenager, who moves to a town where dancing and rock music were banned in reaction to a tragedy that affected so many people.
Ren slowly wins round his friends, and together they bring the town back to life through song and dance. Theatretrain certainly brought us all to life on their opening night at Shanklin Theatre. Cleverly staged and perfectly choreographed, every single cast member (and there were a lot of them!) played their part in a production that had us chuckling and cheering throughout. Yes, there were standout performances among the lead roles, but what struck me was how much everyone gave, including those tucked away at the back during the big showpiece numbers.
Performing against the backdrop of an impressive video wall, the team rocked every scene and even managed to maintain convincing US accents, which is no mean achievement.
Scene changes were swift, and it was good that one or two first-half sound issues were ironed out. This meant that the gentler, more poignant moments in the second half were delivered clearly, beautifully, and at times movingly.
It’s so easy to trot out the clichés when a team of young people come good on stage. The most overused is probably ‘stars of the future’, so I’m going to avoid that one (even though it might actually be true).
Instead, I’ll just say that every single person on that stage – and the creative team backstage – should be feeling proud of a professional production that had the first-night audience buzzing.
Theatretrain have already signed up to do some more big shows over the next couple of years, including Kinky Boots, Frozen, and Les Miserables.
Let’s just say, I’ll be there!
