The Beyond Broadway Experience: Footloose – Festival Theatre

Edinburgh’s hit youth-theatre company The Beyond Broadway Experience, took to the Festival Theatre with their rendition of the cult-classic Footloose.  Featuring a cast of almost 200 actors aged 8-25, this was a showstopping, full-out musical extravaganza.  This cast performs with such flair and professionalism it’s hard to believe the majority of the cast are under 20!  With aerials, split leaps, and tumbling, the acrobatic and dancing capabilities of the whole cast was astounding, each cast member bringing maximum energy to their performances.

Unfortunately, I cannot provide the names of the actors in this production so will henceforth refer to them by their character names.  Our leading ladies, Rusty and Ariel were an unstoppable duo – true triple threats, bringing confidence and sass to their characters, delivering performances that could have just as well have been on a West-End stage.  They both were fully committed and authentic to their characters, translating that energy into their dancing and singing too – truly a joy to watch.  Leading man Ren was an exceptional dancer – very well suited to the character – he really brought that indignant energy to the character, shaking up the people of Beaumont.  And of course, Ren’s sidekick Willard brought the laughs, especially in his featured solo Mama Says.  It particularly amused me in this number when the boys stood in a chorus line and after linking arms, we saw one boy was too short to reach the ground so was dangling in the air.  It’s this attention to detail and familiarity and awareness of their cast that makes this creative team so perfect – creating special moments where every member of this huge cast gets their place to shine.

I couldn’t fault a single moment in this musical – I was completely blown away by the talent throughout.  Reverend Moore and Vi Moore delivered mature and stirring performances, Wendy Jo and Urleen were hilarious and sang beautifully, and of course I couldn’t go without mentioning Betty Blast, the owner of the burger joint Ren works at.  She was tiny in comparison to Ren, making for a hilarious stand-off as she breaks up a fight – for such a young actress, her line delivery was perfect – a crowd favourite for definite.  Again, it’s in moments like these where we see the self-aware smarts of the creative team – these small touches add so much to the piece.  And being able to manage a cast this large is an exceptional feat, yet everyone knew what they were doing, everything was polished, and especially when so many of the cast were so young, their ability to keep up with the dancing, singing, and acting was truly marvellous.  I can’t wait to see the careers of these young artists blossom as I’m sure they will all go far.  

Reviewer: Jessie Martin

Reviewed: 18th July 2025

North West End UK Rating: