Footloose – The Musical is returning to the West End on 17 August. The toe-tapping dance musical occupies the Playhouse for an autumn season, prior to the arrival of Rufus Norris’s Hergé’s Adventures Of Tintin.
Based on Dean Pitchford’s hit 1984 film Footloose, which starred a young Kevin Bacon, this musical adaptation tells the story of Ren McCormack, a dance-crazy teenager who moves to the American backwater town of Bomont with his mother, a town where, to his disgust, dancing is banned. The rebellious Ren stands up to the town’s moral ruler, the Reverend Shaw Moore, and soon has the whole town dancing.
The show has choreography by Karen Bruce, whose credits also include Saturday Night Fever, Fame and Pacific Overtures, and the soundtrack features well-known hits from the film including Holding Out For A Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and the title track.
Footloose – The Musical is returning to the West End following a successful stay at the Novello last year, which saw David Essex in the role of Shaw Moore and Cheryl Baker as his wife Vi. No casting has yet been confirmed for this new West End run.
The show is expected to run at the Playhouse until 1 December, as the theatre has already announced a Christmas season of Hergé’s Adventures Of Tintin, which plays at the venue from 12 December 2007-23 February 2008.
CB