Worried about the imminent Labour budget? Weary of watching the terrible events unfolding on the nightly news?
Well The New Wolsey has got the antidote with a feel-good, fun-loving '80s musical production that will get your feet tapping and your heart singing.
First produced as a stage show in 1998, this production has been revived to celebrate the 40th year anniversary of the film on which it was based.
Utilising the New Wolsey’s trademark actor-musician format, a 14-strong (mainly) young cast give it all the energy and the vibes they can muster as they tell the story of Ren McCormac (Luke Wilson), a teenager from Chicago, who moves with his single mother (a sympathetic performance from Nina Kristofferson) to a Hicksville town called Bomont and discovers that his classmates have been banned from dancing due to a law passed by the hellfire local preacher Shaw Moore—still mourning his son Bobby who, with three other friends, plunged off the bridge one night after returning from a party, and hence he blames the vices of drink, drugs and dancing for their deaths.
When this musical first hit Broadway, it got very mixed reviews, and it's easy to see why. The first half is very frothy as the characters are introduced and the storyline bobs along without getting too deep. There’s also a big plot hole—for a town that has banned dancing, the youngsters of Beaumont seem to do a lot of it!
The second half is better as we get to understand the Rev’s heartache and see his relationship with both his daughter Ariel—played with a lot of sass by Kirsty Findley—and his wife, a believable performance from Wendy Paver]. In fact, Robin Simpson gets quite a lot of depth out of Shaw as he explores the questions of religious zeal vs human compassion and comes out at the end a better man for it.
The rest of the show is the usual teenage angst as boy meets girl meets trouble and they rebel against the restrictions of their town’s narrow views while kicking up a whole lotta hoedown. Best of the bunch are Luke Thornton, who brings a vulnerability as well as humour to the character of Willard, well paired with Elizabeth Rowe as Rusty, his enthusiastic girlfriend.
The show moves along with pace as the talented company give it their all as they dance and sing through the well known hits including "Holding Out for a Hero", "Let’s Hear It For The Boy" and the iconic "Footloose". And of course there is a happy ending.
A great evening’s entertainment that brings a bit of warmth to these encroaching winter days.