Review: FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL at The Royal Theatre

I may be starting a new tradition of going to the Royal Theatre, 111 S Market St, in Benton, every year to see a Young Players production for my first show of the new year. FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL is a great way to start my 2024, especially when the talent is at this caliber. Directed by Justin Pike and Choreographed by Reagan Hammonds Turbyfill, this high energy troupe took me back to the eighties and had me cuttin’ Footloose! 

Based on the 1984 movie of the same name, FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL is about a small town that banned dancing after teenagers died in a wreck. When Ren McCormack (Luke Ferguson) and his mother Ethel (Jamie Partain) have to move from Chicago to Beaumont to live with his Uncle Wes (Tony Clay) and Aunt Lulu (Lee Ann Clay) Warnicker after his father left the family, life got tough for Ren. Coach Roger Dunbar (Matthew Burns) has Principal Harry Clark (Jeremy Clay) kick him off the wrestling team, and he makes enemies with Chuck Cranston (Zachary Glover) when he steals his girlfriend Ariel Moore (Annslee Clay), who happen to be Reverend Shaw Moore (Dakota Mansfield) and Vi Moore’s (Angela Morgan Whitehead) daughter. Ren decides that the no dancing law is dumb and wants to have a prom, so he rallies the students and practices his speech. After a field trip to a country dance hall where Willard Hewitt (Eli Butler) learns to dance, they come back and take on the city council. Do they win their prom? You have one more weekend to go find out.  

I have always loved Footloose the movie (the first one), so seeing Luke resemble the looks and moves of Kevin Bacon was so much fun. Honestly, it’s as if a young Kevin jumped out of the movie and landed on stage. Annslee was an angsty Ariel with a lot of attitude and energy. Together they made the quintessential rebel teenage couple with goals.  

Ariel’s posse Rusty (Izzy Hammonds), Urleen (Kenzie Brooks) and Wendy Jo (Belle Overstreet) did a great job harmonizing. Even now, I still have “Somebody’s Eyes” in my head. I thought it was very clever how they used that song to warn Ren about all the eyes around town watching what he does. Also, Izzy’s Rusty and Eli’s Willard were a cute couple. In fact, my plus one thought Eli was a perfect Willard.  

Dakota Mansfield was a staunch antagonist for this production. He sold the Reverand role for me. I could feel his disdain yet struggle for just trying to be the best role model for the town. He brought the depth to his character and watching the transition from firm leader to sad father was very touching. It was hard to be mad at him for banning dancing when the feelings for losing his son were very real. Mansfield tugs at the heart strings in this show for sure.  

I never can fathom how they squeeze so many people on that stage for group numbers. The dancing looked like a great big party, and it was awesome to see the movie moves added into the musical. I especially loved all the jumps and turns Luke’s Ren added into the mix of songs.  

Before the show, Director Pike addressed the audience saying that this was the tenth anniversary for the Young Players program, and they opened with FOOTLOOSE.  

“So every year over Christmas break we put a show together, which is insane, and it is the craziest, most wonderful time and such a blessing that all of you are sharing in this very unique programming opportunity for young people.” 

Pike also addressed the need for us to buy cookies. “You may have seen people walking around selling cookies before the show. That money that we generate from the cookie sale goes directly back into the young players program for programming and our travel program. It’s a very, very good cause. Our travel program, we take a trip every summer. We alternate New York City and an abroad trip. We've now taken three tours of New York City. Last summer before last, we took a theater arts trip to London, which was amazing. Last summer we took a trip to France and Italy. It’s an amazing way for young people to explore the arts beyond our own community. And as you can imagine, it takes a lot of cookies to make it to Paris, France. So yeah, we actually added it up dne time, and it was like tens of thousands of cookies or something. So, those trips are heavily fundraised by the kids from those trips, so please help us out with that. It's very, very appreciated. 

For more information on this production and upcoming shows or how your budding thespian can join this fabulous program, visit their website at https://www.theroyaltheatre.org.  

Broadway World would like to give a special ‘Thank you’ to Charlotte Hammonds for providing these wonderful pictures! 

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