Review: Footloose at the Liverpool Empire ****

Footloose, in its original – exhilarating – film incarnation emerged as part of a collection of adolescent movies in the mid-80s (my own teenage years) which kicked off with Fast Times at Ridgemont High and included The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

And perhaps of all of them it’s the one with the broadest appeal, something that has seen it endure through four decades, a cinematic remake and a stage musical version which first made its debut before the Millennium.

On one level the (admittedly somewhat thin) story is the perfect vehicle for young actors, being populated with characters on the cusp of adulthood, testing and pushing the boundaries set by society and keen to break free and forge their own path.

But what the stage version of Dean Pitchford’s kinetic slice of cinema also reveals, with perhaps more clarity than the film, is that it’s also about loss, grief and change for adults as well as adolescents, and how to navigate that and ultimately find some peace and redemption.

Or Ren-demption if you like.

And so, in slightly circuitous fashion, to this Empire Youth Theatre production, with its big cast taking over the theatre’s big stage for an annual summer showcase of teenage triple threat talent.

For the (few) uninitiated. After Ren McCormack’s (Joseph Bigley) dad does a vanishing act, he and his mum are forced to relocate from Chicago to smalltown Bomont, deep in the sticks, where the teenager finds himself in all kinds of strife as he struggles to acclimatise to his new, stifling, surroundings.

Above: Ariel (Millie Mckeown) and cast are Holding Out for a Hero. Top: Ren (Joseph Bigley) just can't keep still in Bomont. Photos by Phil Tragen.

When he discovers dancing has been banned as a reaction to the tragic death of four teenagers in an accident, he decides to take on the town’s killjoy elders – led by Rev Moore (Yanni Yeadon) - and persuade them to change their minds. Viva la Ren-volution!

In this he’s aided and abetted by his new friend Willard (Kalil Ahmed a natural at working a crowd and who delivers a delicious scene-stealing turn, not least in Let’s Hear it for the Boy), Willard’s effervescent girlfriend Rusty (Isabel Cosgrove, who recently impressed as Eponine in Les Mis on the same stage) and the Rev Moore’s wayward daughter Ariel - a gutsy performance by LMA graduate Mille Mckeown.

Bigley’s own particular strengths lie in the scenes where his character is forced to confront the demons behind his cocky, protective façade, and he also commands our attention in the town meeting where Ren deploys Bible quotations – including of course, Ecclesiastes – to argue his case.

Elsewhere he could perhaps allow himself a bit more edge and spikiness, while I’d like to see Ren the character given a more ambitious solo dance routine in I Can’t Stand Still.

Above: Everybody cut loose....the Footloose cast. Photo by Phil Tragen.

Away from the teens, there’s also much to admire and enjoy in the parallel storyline of adults struggling with their own demons.

Yeadon channels both intransigence and vulnerability as Rev Moore, while Learn to be Silent, the trio involving Vi Moore (Maggie Patino Murphy), Ren’s mum Ethel (Amelie Pridgeon) and Ariel, is an emotional and genuinely powerful piece of theatre.

Indeed despite it not being a showy role, Murphy, as the pastor’s wife coping with her own losses, impresses greatly throughout the evening.

On opening night there were a few minor sound issues, mostly around individual mic packs, while it took a little while for the show to really relax and ‘cut loose’. Which it did, in spades, with a punchy, energetic and crowd-pleasing Holding Out for a Hero.

Let’s hear it for the boy(s)! And all the girls too.

Just to mention - the Empire Youth Theatre has nurtured many talented young performers over the years who have gone on to prestigious theatre schools and colleges and, from there, into professional jobs.

One was Rosa Taylor, who two years ago appeared as Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde. Very sadly, last month the 19-year-old, who was due to start at Trinity Laban Conservatoire this autumn, was killed in a car accident, and this production of Footloose has been dedicated to her.