Review: Footloose – Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh

If you love Footloose, that 1984 hybrid of teen drama and MTV music video, then you’re going to have a grand time at Edinburgh Musical Theatre’s current offering down at the Church Hill Theatre. Adapted from the movie in 1998 by Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford, and Walter Bobbie, the stage musical dials up the silliness and spectacle, tossing in a few new songs to tide audiences over between the legendary bangers of the original soundtrack.

The story is pretty much intact, if slightly saner than its inspiration. Curiously dance-obsessed Chicago teen Ren (Sean Vannet) moves to the hyper-conservative Midwest town of Bomont with his mum. With dancing outlawed by a town council suborned by preacher Shaw Moore (Joshua Clarke), conflict is inevitable. Toss in the Reverend’s charismatic, rebellious daughter Ariel (Tara McCullough) and her bad-boy boyfriend Chuck (Robbie Noble), and it’s an all-singing, all-dancing, pop-fuelled war on multiple fronts.

Yes, it’s very silly, but when the entire EMT ensemble blasts onto the stage to the strains of Kenny Loggins’ ‘Footloose’, they bring a compelling, celebratory energy which doesn’t let up. They make the most of the musical’s earnest, if fairly daft drama, and get plenty of laughs—particularly from some cracking supporting performances—but never lose sight of the show’s primary appeal: good times and good music. Brava, Director Clare Wooton.

Stealing the Scene

Casting proves a major strength. Vannet and McCullough make highly capable leads, but as so often with dramedy, their scenes are perpetually at risk of theft by the less vanilla characters in their orbit. Whether it’s the hilariously amiable antics of toothpick-chewing dance-novice Willard (Matthew Colquhoun), or the awkward charm and ridiculous pipes on his will-they-won’t-they gal, Rusty—played by songbird extraordinaire Sarah-Louise Donnelly—it’s an uphill battle for the heroes to keep eyes on them. The show hits its unquestionable zenith when Donnelly leads out a sensational take on ‘Let’s Hear It For the Boy’ while Colquhoun blossoms from dance-dunce to butterfly in the background.

Yes, it’s very silly, but when the entire EMT ensemble blasts onto the stage to the strains of Kenny Loggins’ ‘Footloose’, they bring a compelling, celebratory energy which doesn’t let up.

Robbie Noble also puts in a solid shift as Chuck, offering an effective “evil Danny Zuko” turn as the local bully. His rendition of Sammy Hagar’s ‘The Girl Gets Around’ might feel oddly sexually aggressive when promoted from the background noise of a cinematic car chase, but that’s on the show’s writers, not Noble or EMT.

High-Octane Energy

If this were a musical with aspirations to artistic greatness, such imbalance would matter more. As a somewhat daft but perfectly enjoyable story upon which to hang fabulously delivered song and dance, it’s more than serviceable—and deliver fabulously is precisely what EMT, Wooton, Choreographer Flick Hannah, and Musical Director Emily Paterson do.

McCullough, for example, has the vocal strength and range to lead out the anthemic ‘I Need A Hero’, but combined in chorus with besties Rusty, Anna Spence’s Urleen and Wallis Hamilton Carmichael’s hilarious Wendy-Jo and the result is simply gorgeous. It’s this trio that makes the opening number quite so great, alongside the peppy, line-dance-infused choreography. To avoid being blasted off-stage, everyone else has to bring their A-game, and they do.

**Production shots by Adamantia Tserkezoglou**

Voices to match Kenny Loggins are rare as hen’s teeth, but Vannet delivers well, particularly during the barnstorming, first-act closing ‘I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)’. Elsewhere, Colquhoun captures the fun when leading out ‘Mama Says’, while Clarke finds a touch of heart in the preacher’s occasional soul-searching solos.

In the pit, a tight, punchy band under Paterson don’t miss a beat throughout—and though the drums would benefit from a screen, they give reliably cracking versions of the familiar numbers. There’s no lack of rhythm or beat energising the tireless ensemble above, who leave nothing in the dressing room. I’d also like to compliment everyone on their accents—not a single one grates on the ears, which is a small miracle in itself.

All in all, this is a great production of a preposterous but super tuneful musical, and yet another example of unpaid professionals offering Edinburgh audiences some seriously high-quality nights in the stalls.

Featured Image: Footloose – Edinburgh Music Theatre – (c) Adamantia Tserkezoglou