Hello, I hope everything is well
with you all. On Saturday 27th February 2016 Me and My Beez
(Kayleigh) went to the Marina Theatre to see the matinee performance of the UK
Tour of Footloose the Musical (a.k.a. Footloose). It was a fabulous day out,
with great music, amazing dancing and some great singing; as well as the well-deserved
catch up between me and me Beez. Apart from the panto last year this is the
first musical from the Marina that has featured in the blog. I have also
noticed a few great shows coming up this year at the Marina and I hope to be
there and to share my thoughts and experiences with you (particularly Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s Tell Me on a Sunday starring Jodie Pregner and the hilarious and
riskay musical that is Avenue Q). After the performance me and the Beez went to
my favourite restaurant Sgt Pepper’s for a lovely meal and a well needed catch
up. We had a bit of a shock when we entered the restaurant and they said there wasn’t
any tables. I just stood there in shock and I think the waiter was confused as
to why I didn’t leave the restaurant HAHA! However in the end they found us a
table, which was so lucky as we were so looking forward to the meal. I think
the funniest thing of the meal, apart from the rubbish lip synchs I was doing
to some great 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s hits, sorry Tina Turner. Sorry I have
totally changed track, the funniest thing was when the waiter wanted to clear
the plates, I looked at him like he was a burglar and as he said is everything
ok I said “Can I just eat my orange please” – HAHA! I think you may have had to
be there but it was funny. We did find out though that the cast went to the
local Weatherspoon’s (Joseph Conrad) between shows; fuming with myself. I think
it was a sign when Sgt Pepper’s said no tables available – gutted. I hope the
whole cast enjoyed their week at the Suffolk coastal town of Lowestoft, gutted
I couldn’t say hi at the Conrad.
For those of you who do not know
what Footloose the Musical is about (and if you are one of these people what
the hell have you been doing lol!). The musical is based on the 1984 film of
the same name (and I didn’t know that the film was loosely based on a real
place in Oklahoma, Elmore City – I hope that they now enjoy music and dancing,
especially being in a state that is also one of the best and loved musicals
ever, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!). Classically starring Kevin Bacon
as young Ren who moves from the city to a remote and rural town where dancing
and rock and roll music has been banned and is illegal and sees him try to
change the town’s views on this. We all love Kevin Bacon, especially those Jack
McFarland fans who became a bit of a stalker of Bacon. We love the song
Footloose, and Will and Grace fans will be familiar with the dance Bacon does
when he stars at a guest appearance in one of the episodes. The musical first
hit the UK in 2004 on a national tour before it ended up in the West End in
2006 for a short lived run. The West End production starred Cheryl Baker, best
known for Bucks Fizz as Vi Moore. Speaking of Bucks Fizz, Eurovision selection was
on BBC on Friday night and well done to Joe and Jake for winning and I hope you
win it for the UK in Sweden this year. Massive Eurovision fan here and on May 14th
it will be hitting our screens. Other famous faces to grace the Footloose stage
included David Essex and Maureen Nolan who stars in the current production. Footloose
received no Olivier nominations although was nominated for four Tony’s; winning
none L.
The stage adaptation is by Dean
Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, with music by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean
Pritchford (additional lyrics provided by Kenny Loggins, Jim Steinman, Sammy
Hagar and Eric Carmen). Footloose the musical is great for those who like a bit
of 1980’s rock and roll, and supporting the underdog. Obviously the title song,
Footloose, is a classic and as expected the whole audience at the end of the
musical are dancing with the cast to Footloose. Me and the Beez sing it, FOOT-ER-LOOSE!
It just has a better ring to it don’t you think. Try it next time you hear it.
Kenny Loggins sung the original hit in 1984, reaching number 6 in the UK
charts. The score for Footloose uses some of the great songs of the 1980’s and
the songs fit nicely within the story playing out on stage. Obviously footloose
is a favourite, but actually does not fit within the overall story per se
although captures the overall essence of the show. The song starts and ends the
show perfectly, although I do want to learn those foot movements. Holding out
for a Hero is a really good scene, and sees the character of Willard (played
here by Gareth Gates) have his dungarees torn off and oh my Gareth Gates does
have a nice body, phaw. I can’t actually remember what the girls were doing on
the stage my eyes were sort of mesmerised. I absolutely loved the Act 1 finale
with I’m Free/Heaven Help Me; this is a great scene, with fantastic dancing and
a great song(s). Let’s Hear it for the Boy is another favourite song of mine
and sees the teaching of dance to Willard. My Beez’s favourite song in the show
is Almost Paradise; which is a love song between Ren and Aerial.
I have to say the choreography in
Footloose is great, well-crafted and utilises the whole stage. I don’t think I
am being offensive when I say the Marina is not the biggest theatre in the
country nor is it a massive stage, however the Footloose cast and creative team
consume the whole of the stage and every inch has a dance move on. The cast
really work hard and give the audience a great experience; I have to admit my
toes were tapping throughout the show. Matthew Cole is the choreographer and he
has really executed his talent over the show. Cole has also been working on the
Guys and Dolls production at the Savoy Theatre which is going on another UK
tour (got my tickets booked for the production at Norwich Theatre Royal). As
the storyline concerns dance I guess it is expected to have a great
chorography. With overall direction from Racky Plews the cast are amazing.
Obviously Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan star in the production; however
neither of them, I thought, have a massive part and they don’t sing all that
often which was a bit weird I guess. Gates, first hitting fame when he was
runner-up of the 2002 Pop Idol series, plays the stereotypical southern car
mechanic Willard, stupid but gorgeous always chewing on a toothpick. I have to
say I was surprised that Gates could deliver a really comedic role and I was
pleasantly impressed with this. Gates moved into the world of musical theatre
in 2009 and has played some huge roles such as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dreamcoat and Marius in Les Misėrables, also starring in Legally
Blonde. I love Maureen Nolan, seeing her play the role of Mrs Johnstone in
Blood Brothers. I don’t think Nolan was able to show off her full talent
playing the role of Vi Moore as she doesn’t have enough singing parts in
Footloose and nothing like such a song as ‘Tell me It’s Not True’ from Blood
Brothers.
Luke Baker takes the lead as Ren
and he is fantastic. A great actor spanning the whole spectrum of emotions on
stage, a fabulous singer and he can also dance. I saw Baker in Sunny Afternoon
where he was understudy for the lead role. I also felt that Baker had a bit of
a Kevin Bacon flare about him, with the hair and face. The voice that stole the
show for me was Joanna Sawyer’s who played Rusty. She becomes Willard’s
girlfriend (it must be so hard to kiss Gareth Gates every day and get paid for
it J). Her voice is phenomenal,
really powerful and really shows with solos and hearing her over the joint
singing parts. Really great voice and I think it won’t be long until the West
End sees Sawyer make her debut. The ruggedly handsome Matthew Tomlinson plays
Chuck, the thug of the show who uses his brawn to get what he wants. Tomlinson
plays the role fantastically, with a good voice, gorgeous eyes and the
flexibility to bend his body – ouch! I also wondered whether Tomlinson’s sleeve
of tattoos were fake or real? And also thanks to Tomlinson for his Twitter
support. The whole cast are great and on a last note I did think Nicky Swift
played a blinder; playing three very different characters she did this with such
ease and really added individuality to each of her characters.
What I did love about Footloose
is like other musicals I love, Sunny Afternoon and Once, the whole cast (minus
Nolan) play instruments on stage and effectively make up the orchestra. Either as
part of a scene or surreptitiously at the side of the stage each cast member
plays at least one instrument. From the piano to the guitar, flue to the harmonica
and the clarinet to the oboe, it is all seen on stage. With the musical
director, David Keech, up in the corner on his drums he also leads the
orchestra through each performance. I absolutely love when the cast play
instruments on stage and it works so fantastically in this show. The other
commendation to the production is its use of levels. The whole visual field was
used at some point during the show. Whether it was climbing up an old building
or hiding in the car there was something to see everywhere. The staging was
great and bad at the same time. It was great as the transitions to scenes were
great and classically manufactured. However at some points I could see the
staging people preparing the next scene which was a shame. Also the confetti at
the end kept falling throughout the whole show which was annoying. Some of the
staging/props also looked a bit shabbily made however the great acting, singing
and dancing of the cast made up for this massively.
All in all Footloose the Musical
is a great show to go and see. Have a dance to some rock and roll songs and
have a boogie yourself at the end. The current production is touring until
October 2016 so there is plenty of time to get your tickets. Be aware that Mr
Gareth Gates will NOT be performing
from April 16th till June 20th and from 10th
to the 27th of August (Nolan tours throughout). Big cities you can
see this tour include Cambridge, Oxford, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Aberdeen,
Newcastle, Bristol and Blackpool (plenty of other places). So go and support the need to dance!!!
Thank you and get in touch
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