Gareth Gates to star as Willard in touring production of Footloose
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
SEVENTEEN years to the day since it first opened on Broadway, it has been announced that a new production of Footloose: The Musical will tour the UK. Starting in January 2016, the tour will visit New Wimbledon Theatre from May 2 to May 7.
Gareth Gates will play Willard from January 29 until April 16, returning to the show from June 20.
Based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose: The Musical tells the story of city boy Ren, who has to move to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks out as Ren breaks loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet.
Featuring classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and the unforgettable title track, this new production is bursting with youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music.
When the film was released in 1984, it became the highest-grossing February release in US film history. The soundtrack album ended the year-long reign of Michael Jackson’s Thriller at number one and went on to top album charts all over the world, eventually selling in excess of 17 million copies. Footloose was nominated for a Golden Globe, and both the title song and Let’s Hear It for the Boy received Academy Award nominations.
Footloose: The Musical first opened on Broadway in 1998 where it ran for 709 performances, with a London production following in 2006, opening at the Novello Theatre following a UK Tour.
Gareth Gates rose to fame through the inaugural series of Pop Idol in 2001, going on to sell over five million records worldwide. His version of Unchained Melody sold over a million copies in the UK and is the 3rd best-selling single of the Noughties. Gates is also the youngest ever-male solo artist to debut at number 1.
More recently, he has enjoyed a successful career on stage, with credits including Les Misérables, Legally Blonde and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. In 2014, he appeared in the final series of Dancing on Ice, and joined boyband 5th Story as part of ITV’s second series of The Big Reunion, touring arenas with bands including Blue and Five.
Further casting is still to be announced.
Footloose: The Musical has music by Tom Snow, lyrics by Dean Pitchford and is adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. Based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford, it is directed by Racky Plews (American Idiot, West End) with choreography by Matthew Cole, design by Sara Perks and musical supervision by Mark Crossland.
It is produced by David Hutchinson and Phillip Rowntree for Sell A Door Theatre Company and Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, and is presented by arrangement with R&H Theatricals Europe.
The tour will visit Bridlington, Dartford, Edinburgh, Lowestoft, Cardiff, Manchester, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Oxford, Weston-Super-Mare, Wimbledon, Liverpool, Watford, Derry, Torquay, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Newcastle, Woking, Brighton and Bristol.
For more details and to book tickets, visit footloose-musical.com/.