Review: Everybody Cut FOOTLOOSE at the Fulton

Let's start with a fact to get out of the way. If you're a fan of the movie FOOTLOOSE, there are a couple of iconic Kevin Bacon moments that come to mind immediately: the fight in the warehouse, and the beloved solo dance scene that he parodied thirty years later on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jimmy Fallon (Bacon's still miffed that a stunt dance double was used in the film, and rightly so, as he can still do the moves at his current age). The musical version of FOOTLOOSE does not contain these scenes. When you see it, as you will, or at the very least should, don't leave thinking that something was left out by the theatre; it wasn't written into the show. That Dance is apparently too much to stage live, without camera cuts.

The musical is currently on stage at the Fulton in Lancaster, directed by Marc Robin, choreographed - because dancing is the point of this show - by Samantha Hewes-Cramer, who more commonly choreographs at Dutch Apple. This is one of the few 1980's hit movies turned into musicals that has been a real success, possibly because it is one of the few that, despite the absence of some iconic visuals, captured the real spirit of the movie.

If it's the story of FOOTLOOSE you love as much if not more than Kevin Bacon, the musical of FOOTLOOSE, adapted for stage by its original screenwriter Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, is certainly for you. It's big, splashy, loud, and fun, and it's much the same story, with a slightly different way of getting from the town council meeting to the dance that's really a bit more satisfying than the movie's version. Dancing's still illegal in Bomont when Ren McCormick (Broadway veteran Neil Starkenberg) comes to town with his mother (Rita Harvey). He falls for the preacher's kid (beloved Fulton veteran Liz Schmitz), despite her father Reverend Moore (James Patterson) believing that Ren, a Chicago transplant, may be the Devil's spawn. But Ariel, his daughter, lives up to the generally understood definition of "preacher's kid," since she's already dating bad news dude Chuck (Cory Jeacoma). Ren has first an enemy, then a friend, in hayseed Willard Hewitt (David J. Wiens), who's steadfastly Not Dating Ariel's friend Rusty (Katie Bates). Ren is determined to get the girl and save the town from No Dancing. But hey, you knew this part; it's a shared cultural knowledge at this point.

The script has its moments of greatness, but its moments of irritation as well, ranging from preachy (and not from Preacher Moore) to silly to seriously disturbing - at this point in American culture, when Ariel's been beaten up by Chuck because she's left him for Ren, when she says nothing should be done about it and Ren accepts that, isn't it tacitly accepting violence against women? (Hint: the answer is yes.) The musical is recent enough - the original movie was only in 1984 - that we shouldn't be having that discussion. This is probably this writer's greatest concern with the show (and not with this specific production); it's as out of place now as the "he hit me because he loved me" line that now makes Rodgers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL so unbearable.

That script horror aside, it's a thoroughly enjoyable show... if you like little things like singing, dancing, big ensemble numbers, corny humor, and the other incidentals that make American musical theatre great. Or if you happen to like the soundtrack from FOOTLOOSE: the title song, "Holding Out for a Hero," "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and other music that you loved from the movie, as well as some original material for the show. Samantha Hewes-Cramer's choreography fits a large group of dance-deprived teens perfectly, as well as underscoring the adults' fears and concerns in their songs. And the staging of "Holding Out for a Hero" is especially amusing, as an array of masculine hero types try out their stuff for the girls to check.

Out of a number of fine group moments, the very best may be the trip to the out-of-town bar where the kids, particularly Willard, dance, as Willard learns that moving his body to music doesn't hurt. Rusty's "Let's Hear It for the Boy" comes in here with Bates proving just what a strong voice she has.

Other moments include "Learning to be Silent," in which the women of Bomont - Ren's mother, the preacher's wife, and Ariel - voice the lack of voice that women in Bomont have learned to develop. It may be the reason Ariel refuses to do anything about being beaten, but that should be a moment where one female in town does develop her own voice, not furtherance of this system. "Learning to be Silent" is a beautiful, painful song, but it loses its impact when women voluntarily give up their voices in situations later in the story where they could reclaim them. With Ren already causing the wheels of progress to make their squeaky first rotations, this is a bit much. Willard's "Mama Says (You Can't Back Down)" is a classic comedy gem, while "Almost Paradise" is a touching moment between Ren and Ariel.

While the cast is uniformly fine, the real standout is James Patterson as Reverend Shaw Moore. His stage presence captures the preacher perfectly - larger than life, dominating the opinions of the other town leaders and making everyone else cower. He's a sight to behold as he realizes that rather than listening to his flock and their problems, he's forced them to live with his. It's a wonderful performance as the main adult character of the show, matching the strength of the writing for the part.

And if you're not singing "Footloose" along with the cast at the end - because we know you know all the words - there may just be something wrong with you. Give the Bacon a break, and learn to love the story for itself, not just that solo dance. There's so much more to it. And the production at the Fulton delivers it.

At the Fulton Theatre until July 17. Visit www.thefulton.org for tickets and information.

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