Footloose at Sundance

Last night I took a beautiful drive through Provo Canyon to the Sundance Mountain Resort to see Footloose, this year's Sundance Summer Theatre production in partnership with Utah Valley University.  I have been coming to these shows for years and I was so excited to be back after last summer's production was cancelled.  In my zeal to be back in the mountains watching live theatre under the stars, however, I forgot that I don't really care for this musical (I saw it several years ago at HCT).  I love the 1984 movie about a big city boy who moves to a small Midwestern town where he discovers that rock and roll and dancing have been banned by a city council still reeling from a tragic accident five years earlier and the stage musical is at its best when it incorporates the music from the movie, including "Footloose," "Somebody's Eyes," "Holding Out for a Hero," "I'm Free," "Let's Hear It for the Boy," and "Almost Paradise."  Unfortunately, most of the songs written specifically for the musical are for the adults to sing and, in my opinion, they are incredibly contrived and take away from the energy of the show.  Jason Baldwin, as Shaw Moore, Bailee Brinkerhoff Morris, as Vi Moore, and Heather Shelley, as Ethel McCormack, all have great voices but I found myself looking at the program to see when the next familiar song was coming up whenever they were on stage, particularly during the second act (I think the majority of the audience just wanted to get to the dance).  It still could have been a lot of fun if the performances were great but I didn't really like them, either.  Eric Ascione, as Ren McCormack, is an incredible dancer who brings a lot of enthusiasm and charisma to the role but he is not a singer and he really struggles in "I'm Free" and "Almost Paradise." Beatriz Melo, as Rusty, Emma Wadsworth, as Urleen, and Abigail Watts, as Wendy Jo, embellish their songs with showy vocal runs, which is great if you are Mariah Carey, but if you are not Mariah Carey it just sounds like screeching that is off-key.  Their songs, particularly "Let's Hear It for the Boy," are sometimes really cringe-worthy.  I did really enjoy Hailey Hyde, as Ariel, because she has the best voice in the cast, and Maxwell Eddington, as Willard, because he is hilarious.  I will say that this production really shines in the high-energy choreography by Adam Ray Dyer and the big production numbers are very well executed by the talented dancers in the cast.  I especially loved the way "Holding Out for a Hero" and "I'm Free" are staged because the former incorporates superhero costumes and the latter incorporates athletic equipment in a gym.  I also really liked the set design by Glenn Pepe, especially the large metal bridge that looms above every scene which is brilliant because the car crash on the bridge still has a profound effect on the town even five years later.  This is probably my least favorite production that I've seen at Sundance (it should be noted that everyone around me seemed to love it) but I still had a lot of fun and I definitely loved being up in the mountains where it is significantly cooler than in the valley.  Footloose runs Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through August 14 but I believe all of the shows are sold out (go here for more information).