Footloose: More Like Footloser

Kick off your Sunday shoes and skip this musical

Nathaniel Shaw can dance, but he’s a little too old to be playing a teenager. Photo by Alberto Romeu

By Mary Damiano

The party at Actors’ Playhouse on Friday, March 7, was catered by Ortanique, a popular restaurant on Miracle Mile. The shrimp was perfection, the short ribs were satisfying and the cookies were delightful. What a shame that the same adjectives cannot be applied to the production that opened that night, Footloose, the Musical.

This is a bad production of an unimpressive musical. The trouble begins with the very first notes of the ubiquitous title song. “Footloose” possesses one of the most energetic and infectious openings ever, with its distinctive drumbeat, followed by the explosive twang of guitars. At Actors’ Playhouse, however, the song is unrecognizable, neutered, rendered powerless. Muffled, muted sound plagued the show — not a good thing for any production, especially a musical.

Thanks to the Kevin Bacon movie, we all know the story: Chicago teen Ren McCormack moves to a hick town that has outlawed dancing, falls for the preacher’s daughter and fights for the right to bust a move.

Far-fetched stuff, to be sure, but even more far-fetched in the hands of Actors’ Playhouse, where the big question is: Where are the teenagers, or at least the teenager look-a-likes? Lead actor Nathaniel Shaw, who plays Ren, has the voice and the moves, but he looks way too old to be playing a high school senior. Ditto for Christopher Kent, whose five o’clock shadow can be seen from Row G. 

Things get more ludicrous as the show goes on. Leigh Bennett, who plays Ren’s mom Ethel, is saddled with a particularly horrid wig. Bonnie Tyler’s hit “Holding Out for a Hero” is excised of all of its raw passion and turned into a low-rent fantasy sequence with lots of buff men in uniform. The romantic “Almost Paradise” is done in by fog; on opening night, the effect filled the stage, crept down the stairs and didn’t evaporate until the fourth row. The sweetest and most energetic moments are found in “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” which showcases Heather Jane Rolf, a ray of light in an otherwise dismal production, and Kent, who despite being long in the tooth for a teen role turns in a likable performance.

Barbara Flaten’s choreography is oddly humdrum for a show about dancing. Most of the time, the stage looks crowded, and except for some acrobatics, there’s no wow factor. 

Footloose flatlines on nearly every level. By the time Barry J. Tarallo sings “Heaven Help Me” near the end of the first act, all I could do was nod my head and think, “Yes, Barry, my sentiments exactly.” 

Footloose, the Musical runs through April 6 at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. Shows: Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. For tickets and information, call 305-444-9293 or visit www.actorsplayhouse.org.