Footloose and (possibly) fancy free

For this next post, we’re going back to June 2016. It was actually quite a busy month in some ways, especially compared to COVID lockdowns and what feels like years of restrictions. In June 2016, it was my brilliant best friend’s birthday, our school history trip to France and Belgium and the show this post is all about- ‘Footloose’. We went to see ‘Footloose’ at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen about a week after our Song Shop summer show, which was a ‘Songs to make you smile’, which was more of a compilation of different musical numbers with pop songs and musical hits, rather than a show with a plot or characters. We actually put on ‘Footloose’ with Song Shop in 2010 and the production we saw with our lovely friend, Phyl, in Aberdeen in 2016 was a brilliant show. It was definitely predominantly women in the audience and at times it had almost strip club and hen night vibes with the amount of screaming and excitement as on the whole people went to this show for one of a few main reasons. Some people were there to see Maureen Nolan, an actual Nolan from the Nolans, some people went to see Matthew Tomlinson of the Montrose family (see earlier post for more info on them) and many, many people went to see Gareth Gates, who was on ‘Pop Idol’ with Will Young in 2002, as the hen night style screaming was for him and the audience went wild for Gareth and as this was a matinee, it wasn’t the vibe that we’d been expecting at all. However, while everyone who appeared in the show was really great, we went to see my Mum’s old friend, Nigel Lister, who played the minister and father of Ariel, who ends up with the protagonist, Ren. We also saw Nigel in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in the Pitlochry Christmas show in 2018 and he’s recently been in an episode of the new BBC drama ‘It’s a Sin’. I contacted him to ask him some questions about his experience of being in 'Footloose' and of performing more generally and he was kind enough to get back with some answers. Here are his responses:

How was your experience of being in 'Footloose'?  

Well it was a pretty intense year.  Weekly touring is by turns exciting and boring, wearing and exhilarating.  Performing over 250 shows in 30 different cities over 9 months can feel relentless with 8 shows every week and some places are more fun to be in then others but overall it was an amazing experience.  I visited some of the greatest cities in England, Scotland and Ireland, playing amazing theatres while hanging out with some pretty cool people; oh and I probably learnt to sing on the job too. That is, I learnt how to put over a song, to reveal your characters thoughts and emotions in a scene by singing as opposed to speaking; that was all pretty new to me.  Oh and it was great to play electric guitar every night off stage too!

What was your first experience of performing? 

Well apparently I stood on a chair at Nursery school in Middlesbrough and sang ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’ and I remember being in the school Nativity play and some thing about Noah’s Ark at Junior school but I had piano lessons from the age of 6 and singing and tap dancing lessons when I was about 8 so I actually had quite a bit from an early age.  I used to enter singing competitions around the north east around this age and I definitely remember performing with my tap class at some thing somewhere... brown trousers and yellow roll necks are looming from my memory.  I was asked about ballet but I guess I wasn’t as brave as Billy Elliot, my brothers preferred football.

What was the first musical you appeared in?

I did quite a few plays at Stokesley school but I remember also being in a couple of musicals- Oliver! And Fiddler on the Roof.

Are there any TV series or stage shows you'd like to be in?

I can’t think of any TV shows in particular that I’d like to be in, I just like to be busy- you have to pay the rent- but it’s great when you know you’re in something good.  I’ve got a moment in It’s A Sin which is on channel 4 at the moment so that feels good.  As for theatre, I like being in new plays and Shakespeare- he really gives you a rhythm to grab hold of and great lines to speak.

How was your experience of working with a Nolan?

Maureen Nolan is a delight and very down to earth- as were her other sisters that I variously met along the way and unsurprisingly, she really knows how to put over a song.  She can carry such emotion in her singing and I often would watch her big number and try and learn.

Do you prefer doing TV or stage shows?

I prefer stage but I wouldn’t want to have to choose, I love camera stuff too but it feels like a different thing. Same, same but different...

Do you have a favourite musical and if so which one?

I tend to have preferred opera to musicals but obviously I love Singing in the Rain and my wife is a big Fred and Ginger fan.  The recent production of Fiddler at the Meniere Chocolate Factory was utterly heart breaking so I think I’m getting into musicals more these days.  Footloose gave me an appreciation of what’s involved, I hadn’t really done many at all before that, certainly not on that scale.  But West Side Story is probably my favourite.

Do you have any favourite movies?

That is an impossible question, their are far too many, I mean where would you even start? Casablanca.

Which TV series did you binge in lockdown?

Lockdown did have some great telly, thank God.  I loved, Normal People, Sex Education, Queens Gambit, Enola Holmes... I May Destroy You was particularly amazing. Oh and another shout out to It’s A Sin. Harrowing and exhilarating.

What's your favourite TV series?

Favourite TV series?  I’ll have to get back to you, as you can see I’m not very good at favourites.  Breaking Bad was good.  To be honest this week I’ve been a tiny bit obsessed with all those, young people reacting to Led Zeppelin tracks on the youtubes...

 

The cast of ‘Footloose’ was brilliant, as like with the Leeds Cinderella panto, they pretty much sang, danced and played their own instruments as well as playing sometimes multiple characters. ‘Footloose’ might be best known in terms of the 1984 musical drama film ‘Footloose’ with Kevin Bacon, but it was actually based on a true story of a real, extremely religious town in Oklahoma that banned dancing publicly for almost ninety years. Also, some TV references - for any ‘New Girl’ fans, Nick actually makes a reference to ‘the town in Footloose’ in season one when he refuses to dance with everyone and famous TV ‘cool’ Dad in the form of Phil Dunphy from ‘Modern Family’ loves ‘Footloose’ as well. ‘Footloose’ opened as a Broadway stage musical in 1998 with music by Tom Snow (and many others) and lyrics by Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford. There are several well-known songs in ‘Footloose’, including Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding out for a hero’ which appears in other films and other contexts, such as the famous cover by Jennifer Saunders in ‘Shrek 2’. Other songs, ‘Let’s hear it for the boy’, ‘Footloose’ and ‘Somebody’s eyes’, only appear in ‘Footloose’ as well the love theme ‘Almost Paradise’, though it is the stage show that is the musical whereas the film versions focus more on the dance element as it’s so key to Ren’s character and the plot. In fact, ‘Footloose’ was actually remade in 2011 with Andie MacDowell, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid in key roles.

As there’s the movie connection with ‘Footloose’ for this post, I’ve put together a list of some of my favourite movie musicals. Please feel free to share some of your favourites in the comments if you’d like. There’s no obligation, though.😊  

1)Hairspray (2007) 2)Dreamgirls (2006) 3)La La Land (2017) 4)Moulin Rouge (2001) 5)Enchanted (2007)

The next post’s going to be a little different, with more of a TV theme… Hope you enjoy. See you next time 😊