Footloose (SAOS Youth Theatre)
Footloose is very much a story of struggle, whether it's Reverend Shaw Moore's struggle to come to terms with his son's death, Willard Hewitt's struggle to take his relationship with girlfriend Rusty to the next level or any of the other intertwined storylines. As an audience there are complex patterns to understand and it takes some very clear direction to the cast in order to create a performance that delivers those stories in an entertaining way, it is without doubt that Rachel Davies as Director/Choreographer and George Stuart as Musical Director have managed to achieve this with some style.
However without a stellar cast it wouldn't be possible to supply the outstanding performance that this was, a stage almost groaning under the weight of youth talent has the audience in the palm of their hands from the opening notes of the overture.
Leading this stunning array of performers are Joe Simmons as Ren McCormack and Sami Brasenell as Ariel Moore who supply frankly gargantuan performances across all the disciplines of acting, singing and dancing.
Harvey Zaffino produces a genius piece of character acting as Willard Hewitt (the 'Mama Says' number is nothing short of sublime) and Maddy Rock is a commanding presence and vocal as frustrated girlfriend Rusty.
Playing adults in a youth production can be difficult but, three performers in particular make this look a lot simpler than it is, Thomas Homer is a tower of stage presence as Reverend Shaw Moore, Amelia Humphries is a characterful and vocally rich Vi Moore and Amy Sefton is utterly believable and with an equally powerful vocal in the role of Ethel McCormack, Ren's mother.
Oliver Craven - Francis excels as bad boy Chuck Cranston, complemented by William Shillingford and Harry Fox as comical sidekicks Lyle and Travis, who do nothing for Chuck's image but, raise many a laugh from the audience.
Acting as semi-narrators are Urleen, Wendy Jo and Carol Ann played respectively by Hannah Shillingford, Annie Fellows and Sophie Ruddick, it’s almost impossible to comprehend the depth of vocal talent on stage and these three performances are a major part of that rich talent.
I could easily mention every member of the cast who all bring something to the overall performance but, if you’re looking for a couple of small, yet memorable moments, they would have to be Stephen Drew’s confident Cowboy Bob and Hatty Humpherson’s delightful cameo as Betty Blast.
Mama says it doesn't matter if you're a King or you're a clown but, you'll probably be the latter if you don't buy a ticket for one of the remaining performances as the run sadly ends with two performances on Saturday 6th July 2019.
Book Here
However without a stellar cast it wouldn't be possible to supply the outstanding performance that this was, a stage almost groaning under the weight of youth talent has the audience in the palm of their hands from the opening notes of the overture.
Leading this stunning array of performers are Joe Simmons as Ren McCormack and Sami Brasenell as Ariel Moore who supply frankly gargantuan performances across all the disciplines of acting, singing and dancing.
Harvey Zaffino produces a genius piece of character acting as Willard Hewitt (the 'Mama Says' number is nothing short of sublime) and Maddy Rock is a commanding presence and vocal as frustrated girlfriend Rusty.
Playing adults in a youth production can be difficult but, three performers in particular make this look a lot simpler than it is, Thomas Homer is a tower of stage presence as Reverend Shaw Moore, Amelia Humphries is a characterful and vocally rich Vi Moore and Amy Sefton is utterly believable and with an equally powerful vocal in the role of Ethel McCormack, Ren's mother.
Oliver Craven - Francis excels as bad boy Chuck Cranston, complemented by William Shillingford and Harry Fox as comical sidekicks Lyle and Travis, who do nothing for Chuck's image but, raise many a laugh from the audience.
Acting as semi-narrators are Urleen, Wendy Jo and Carol Ann played respectively by Hannah Shillingford, Annie Fellows and Sophie Ruddick, it’s almost impossible to comprehend the depth of vocal talent on stage and these three performances are a major part of that rich talent.
I could easily mention every member of the cast who all bring something to the overall performance but, if you’re looking for a couple of small, yet memorable moments, they would have to be Stephen Drew’s confident Cowboy Bob and Hatty Humpherson’s delightful cameo as Betty Blast.
Mama says it doesn't matter if you're a King or you're a clown but, you'll probably be the latter if you don't buy a ticket for one of the remaining performances as the run sadly ends with two performances on Saturday 6th July 2019.
Book Here
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