Seen the 1984 film? Do you harbour high expectations, think the film was good and the musical has a lot to live up to?

The musical not only lived up to those expectations - it smashed them!

The story was familiar to us who have seen the film that launched a number of careers. What no one was prepared for was the way it started.

The normally expected way performances start is for the low lighting to be reduced right down and the curtain goes up and the performance starts.

The hum and rustle of the audience never had a chance to die before the commencement of what turned out to be an incredibly energetic performance by the whole cast.

Incredibly loud music and full lighting accompanied the raising of the curtain heralding the start of a story of a young man (Ren McCormack, Max Milner) who dances his way towards an eventual victory over the killjoys of the town of Bomont.

There were more songs than the film gave us, and the dance choreography was both tight and very well executed.

By the interlude, we knew Ren was intent on confronting what he saw as an unacceptable prohibition and curtailment of the rights of the youngsters who just wanted to have fun and be free of the yokes imposed upon them by what might have been best described as the elders of the town

Unlike the opening, the performance after the interlude started more conventionally as the lighting dimmed and the curtain opened, and Ren went about his confrontation with the reverend and elders decreeing that dancing was not allowed.

Ren's campaign didn't go as smoothly as he wished, but in the end, he achieved his aim, and the youth of Bomont got their school prom.

At the end, the cast came back and performed some the audience's favourites as part of an encore that seemed to have an encore after it! We stood and danced and sang, and were an audience that thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The audience left with their appetites for entertainment sated.

On the way out of the theatre, the performance was being enthusiastically discussed. The audience, mainly female and spanning a huge range from pre-teen to into retirement, were a happy lot. We left the theatre and walked out into the cool night air smiling, singing in our heads, and dancing in our hearts.

A fantastic night out.

- Sheryl White

09/02/2011