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Footloose (NMTC) Review

Reviewed by Kathryn

Footloose. An iconic 1980s film starring Kevin Bacon which was transferred to a stage musical in 1998. Telling the story of teenager Ren and his move to Bomont where dancing is banned - not great for a guy who Cant Stand Still, Footloose is a fun, up-beat show showcasing singing, dancing and acting for a range of characters and ages - perfect for a community theatre group! 

Photo by Oscar Myles

Northampton Musical Theatre Company are known for their big productions locally so I was looking forward to seeing how they approached this musical, under the direction of Martyn Knight. 
 
The cast were excellent. The principals were well suited to their roles and delivered vocals with energy and confidence. Stand out performances were Ell Barnes-Ward as Ren, Jemma Adams as Ariel and Luke White as Willard whose chemistry within the friendships and relationships were perfect. The supporting company were well matched with the principal standards and evidently enjoyed their time on stage, dancing their socks off and belting out some cracking songs. 
 
Sadly, for me, whilst the cast were giving it everything and the band (musically directed by Rod Iliffe) were adding the musical power needed for an eighties musical, technically the show was let down. Lighting cues were late resulting in the cast being in darkness during solos and poor sound operation meant that lines were missed and were often muffled through misplacement of mics. I watched the second performance so it is expected by this time that all creases from tech/dress rehearsals will have been ironed out. Unfortunately, with ticket prices being what they are for this company, you need to have smoother elements in all departments to justify the purchase. 

Photo by Oscar Myles
 
It felt a real shame as the cast had obviously worked extremely hard on their performances and I felt the gaps in the technical aspects impacted the overall enjoyment of the show - all elements of a production need to work together to produce a top quality show - which we expect from NMTC. 
 
Full credit to the cast and band for their performances and hopefully next year the other issues will be resolved to result in a higher star rating which I believe is deserved. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️
 
Footloose continues at Royal and Derngate until Saturday 2nd November 2024. Tickets are available from https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

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