Click the link to hear Steven Pinder talk to Eagle Radio’s Lewis Mason about Footloose http://tinyurl.com/3g6qs7o

Click on the footage tab for a backstage interview with Harry Neale who plays Chuck Cranston

We’ve waved farewell to Matt Willis and tonight in Aylesbury we’re welcoming Harry Neale who will play Chuck Cranston.

Footloose featured on STV North last week – click here to watch (18 minutes in) http://tinyurl.com/67wb4jdto see

By Lorne Jackson

In 1987, when I was in my early teens, I bumped into Madeleine Arnold while I was out riding my bike.

I’d always had a thing for Mads, her being an older woman (fourteen and three-quarters). She was also well-travelled, having spent two weeks holidaying with her parents in Miami.

We chatted for half an hour, though I never had the guts to ask her out. Then I cycled away, and a few weeks later moved town, never seeing Madeleine again.

Still, it was a nice half hour.

Probably the only decent half hour anybody enjoyed in the entire decade that was the 1980s.

The 80s was a time of Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out, Reganomics, miner strikes, Falkland Wars, big hair, high unemployment and shoulder pads.

It was also a terrible decade for movies.

Flashdance, Top Gun, Footloose…

High on concept, low on intelligence.

I wasn’t looking forward to Footloose – The Dance Musical.

How surprised was I, then, when it turned out to be a fab night out.

The plot is basic. Ren, a cool Chicago kid is dragged by his mom to Hicksville USA, where he discovers dancing is banned.

Ren is hellbent on changing that. He also plans to woo the preacher’s rebellious daughter Ariel.

The original film isn’t a musical. It’s a teen flick with a smattering of pop video moments. So songs have been added, and dance numbers, too.

The changes work, and the youthful cast have drive and energy.

No slack performances, though the stand-out star has to be Giovanni Spano as Willard Hewitt, the thick as a brick hick.

Footloose is a delight from beginning to end.

Almost as good as 30 minutes in the company of Madeleine Arnold – and you can’t say fairer than that.

Until March 19.

Rating * * * *



Matt Willis has confirmed that he will play Chuck Cranston in Aberdeen (21 – 26 Mar) and Manchester (28 Mar – 2 Apr) – book your tickets now!

Here’s the brand new cast footage

http://www.facebook.com/FootlooseMusical#!/video/video.php?v=10150138725840100

Star of the future Max Milner will grace the UK’s stages as ‘Ren’ throughout 2011

Matt Willis star of Busted and I’m A Celebrity winner, will headline his first national theatre tour in FOOTLOOSE – THE DANCE MUSICAL. Willis will play Chuck up to and including Birmingham Hippodrome on Saturday 19th March in Footloose.

Date	Venue	Box Office	Book Online
21 Jan to 29 Jan	Newcastle Theatre Royal	08448 11 21 21	Buy tickets
31 Jan to 5 Feb	Southampton The Mayflower	02380 711811	Buy tickets
7 Feb to 12 Feb	Milton KeynesTheatre	0844 871 7627	Buy tickets
14 Feb to 19 Feb	Edinburgh Playhouse	0844 847 1660	Buy tickets
28 Feb to 5 Mar	Plymouth Theatre Royal	01752 267222	Buy tickets
7 Mar to 12 Mar	Liverpool Empire Theatre	0844 847 2525	Buy tickets
14 Mar to 19 Mar	Birmingham Hippodrome	0488 338 5000	Buy tickets

Award winning actor Steven Pinder (Brookside) takes on the role of Reverend Shaw Moore, a welcome addition to an already star studded cast.