Footloose

So you pack a stage with talent, lots of talent, dancers, actor/musicians, a decent set… and set them about re-creating a hit film. Sounds like a great idea, and at times it was, there was tangible energy and flickers of emotion that led one to want to engage, but…
Well the big but is whether the whole actor/musician thing would actually work. Sadly for me it did not. Yes, they could play and play well, but their instruments simple seemed to get in the way. When choreography has to be devised so as to avoid the clashing of guitar necks then it begins to seem just a bit too contrived, perhaps due to the size of the stage here in Brighton. And whilst the premise of the story, a town in the 1970s where dancing is against the law, depends on the period being right, the setting seemed rather more 1950s when such a thing was not unheard of. If you add to this accents and diction that at times made it hard to understand what was being said and therefore what was going on things are going to start to get confused.
Rising above that confusion were some strong performances, good vocals and of course the hit songs, delivered with punch. Gareth Gates certainly gives his all, in fact sometimes a little too much, and I could not help wonder if his hick mugging good have been toned down to better effect.
Throughout the audience seemed oddly quiet but as the ripping encore started they rose to their feet and went crazy. For me I wanted that ripping energy to start much sooner.
25 July
Theatre Royal Brighton
Andrew Kay
2.5 stars