View from the Green Room: St Paul’s Footloose tugs heart strings
Footloose at St Paul's Community College.
School shows are precious. The bond that’s formed between cast members is a forever clasp and the connection between staff, students and community is a magic that lasts far beyond school years. Whenever I meet cast from our student shows, the musical is a forever topic for everyone.
St. Paul’s Community College certainly put on the Ritz for parents, siblings, family and friends with a first-class production of “Footloose – the Musical”. It’s a good choice for a school show as the cast are all teenagers struggling with adults that seldom allow them to breathe and where the freedom to enjoy themselves comes with strict guidelines.
When Ren (Dylan Ryan/Scott Kirwin) finds that he and his mum Ethel (Nicole Lynagh/Grace Collins) are moving from Chicago to a small farming town, he’s seriously underwhelmed. He’s even more underwhelmed when he finds local preacher Rev Shaw Moore (Jordan Arikan/Jack Dixon) has his own personal line to God and has brow-beaten the local council into banning dancing for teens.
His rebellious daughter Ariel (Isla Rose/Cara Regan) has her sights set on Ren and drama ensues between all three.
It’s not often that we find serious drama in a musical that focuses on teen problems but the St Paul’s production team – headed up by award-winning director/choreographer Jack Cunningham and Musical Directors Ms. Larkin, Ms. Callery and Ms. Malone – are blessed with a young cast that really captures the drama of the moment, along with the comedy of the hour. Two separate casts of principals ensures that there’s lots of talent on show over the week.
Zara Ekodizie’s singing as Rev Shaw’s wife Vi (also, Elena Cutric) is a highlight, as is the combination of gossipy teens Tia Power-Rockett, Grace Laffan and Shanice Cullinane Hullet (also Ava Regan, Charli Hearne and Amber Griffin) who drive the comedy onwards. Evan O’Keefe Reid (also, Daniel O’Sullivan Westpal) is full of knockabout fun as hillbilly Willard Hullitt who’s neither blessed with brains or birds.
Dylan Ryan and Isla Rice are both convincing as young lovers Ren and Ariel (also Scott Kirwan and Cara Regan). They carry the storyline, their duets were loving and truthful and both blended seamlessly into the big chorus numbers.
Jack Cunningham’s choreography always carries that zing of confidence and is the highlight of the show. Large casts of dancers move easily in and out across the stagem and avoid that sense of overcrowding that can easily happen with a school show that frequently has a cast the size of Gladiator.
Well done to St Paul’s Community School on a thoroughly entertaining night out with Footloose – a show that celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people while guiding them with a warm heart and an open mind.
