Customer Reviews

Footloose the Musical (1998 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Jeremy Kushnier is an up and coming star on the Broadway scene. He possesses a triple threat combo of superior voice with fantastic tone and coloration, dance moves that knock your socks off, and the ability to connect with an audience and really act.

This CD showcases his vocal talents and manages to capture the energy and verve of the live show without the benfit of Mr. Kushnier's acting and dancing abilities. Each of his cuts demonstrates why he has become the darling of NYC critics and theatre goers.

Another not to be missed cut is Stacie Francis' take on "Let's Hear It For the Boy". Her powerful, bluesy voice can shatter a chandelier and is an amazing instrument.

Even if you haven't had the chance to enjoy the show on Broadway or see the old Kevin Bacon film (you'll love the new songs that fill out the plotline), you will love this hit .

Ok, When I first bought this CD, I was a little disappointed. But, once I had actually seen Footloose, my thoughts changed. This music, on stage, had SOOOO much energy I couldn't believe it! Now, everytime I listen to it I remember it and enjoy the music. It does grow on you! Also, the somewhat cheesy song, "Dancing is not a crime" is not so cheesy when actually seen in the play! The play is hilarous and very, very good! I would recommend this C.D. to people who enjoy the movie and fast, energertic songs!

This recording is fabulous! They have revamped the 80's music to give it a new, fresh sound while still keeping the original mood intact.

More people need to be exposed to this show. Most of the people who have written reviews here have been in a production of the show. I am now playing Wendy Jo in it.

Personally, I think the best songs on this CD are:

Footloose/On Any Sunday
The Girl Gets Around
I Can't Stand Still
Somebody's Eyes
Learning To Be Silent
I'm Free
I Confess
Holding Out For A Hero
Footloose: Finale

Let's Hear It For The Boy just doesn't do it for me. Neither does Almost Paradise. But the rest of the songs on this recording are not to be missed!

It's a fabulous, energetic, beautiful, crazy, peppy piece of fun!

Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! After seeing this performance done at a local high school (who did a stellar job with it, I must say) I fell in love with the songs and the dancing. I used to listen to the movie soundtrack when I was younger, so many of the songs were familiar. This version makes them more "musically" than they are on the original movie CD, and it's wonderful to hear harmonies and new lyrics. All of the voices sound splendid, and although the songs song by the adults (particularly the Reverand Shaw) are not as enjoyable, there are still the strong 80's hits that one can listen to again and again! Enjoy, and buy this at once!

First of all, this recording serves three functions well: as a reference for amateur vocalists (read:community theater/high school), as a tempo guide for the musicians supporting those amateur performances, and possibly as a keepsake/reminder of an enjoyable performance.

For those outside those narrow audiences, this CD falls horribly flat. I blame the mixing engineer for allowing the voices to drown out the backing band throughout. This is supposed to be 80's pop/rock, where the music and vocals were more on equal footing with each other. Instead, the band is mixed so far down, they sound like they're in the next room. Very much a throwback to 60's-era cast recordings.

Unfortunately, the overall vocal style also leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The full-throated-with-vibrato delivery is simply too formal for many of the characters. It comes off as ironically square, where what was needed was to be appealingly hip. The lack of precision in the ensemble sections is also annoying.

Sadly, at the moment, there is no better alternative to this disc. There really needs to be.

While I never got to see it on Broadway, I did see and quite enjoy a
performance of Footloose: the Musical by my high school a few years back. This show is perhaps one instance where amateur productions are preferable to professional ones, inasmuch as most of the characters
are teenagers.

My nostalgia aside, Footloose the Musical is a generally solid take on
the beloved 1984 film which made Kevin Bacon a house-hold name and gave us some of the most memorable tunes of the last fifty years. The cast is generally talented, particularly Jennifer Laura Thompson (Ariel), Stacey Francis (Rusty), and Dee Hoty (Vi Moore) who easily steal the show. It's arguably better than the original film soundtrack, and certainly lacks the '80s cheese that pervades the former.

First off: we must acknowledge that whatever one thinks of the original
film, the soundtrack at least is an icon of pop culture. So the musical
had a lot to live up to. For the most part, they do a great job with the
material, adding new layers to it, with better orchestration, and fleshing out characters. It's still very slight material for a Broadway show, but its to the credit of Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford that they make it work, and arguably improve on the material.

The re-arrangements of old favorites aren't bad: indeed, extra credit should go to Jeremy Kushnier and JLT for making the VERY gag-worthy "Almost Paradise" at least tolerable. The reworkings of "Footloose", "I'm Free", and "The Girl Gets Around" are pretty darn good, although this rendition of "Holding Out For a Hero" proves for the umpteenth time that no one other than Bonnie Tyler should go near that old standard.

Easily the two best songs of the album are "Somebody's Eyes" and "Let's Hear It For The Boy". This version of "Somebody's Eyes" is a VERY loose re-working of a song from the film. Its paranoid lyrics and dark tone make it one of the few songs with real meat on the album, and it's brilliantly performed as well. It really stands out from the other mostly fluff songs, and most certainly in a good way. "Let's Hear It For the Boy" stands out in an entirely different way: allowing the extremely talented Stacey Francis to stop the show with an amazing rendition of an already great song. It's a pity that she hasn't (yet at least) gone on to bigger things.

In addition to the above, there are also a slew of new songs. And these are a lot more shakey in quality: most of them are plot/character-driven, which leads to dead-spots in the show. The best is the hilarious "Mama Says", where Tom Plotkin (Willard) gives an hysterically redneck guide to life. There's also real heart in Dee Hoty's "Can You Find it in Your Heart?" and Stephen Lee Anderson's rendition of "I Confess". Otherwise... we have an amusing but disposable rap piece in "Dancing is Not a Crime", a potentially-interesting but poorly written "Learning to Be Silent", "On Any Sunday", a decent but unremarkable character intro song, and "I Can't Stand Still", "Heaven Help Me" and "Let's Make Believe We're in Love" aren't worth mentioning.

Still, on the whole, Footloose the Musical is a fun album and arguably
better than the original film soundtrack. It's hard to think of a more
fun CD to listen to offhand.

This musical is so much fun! It has tons of energy and can brighten up even the worst day. I had never heard of it until I was in a production of FOOTLOOSE as Wendy Jo, and now I can't get enough. If you like the movie, this is even better!

I'm going to go ahead and admit up front I am into musical theatre & I was really nervous about them making Footloose into a musical. After seeing the show and listening to the c.d. I love it!I love the arrangements and the sound all together.My favorite songs off the c.d. would have to be (in this order): Somebody's Eyes, Footloose, & Almost Paradise.I highly recommend this c.d.!

My high school is putting on the musical "Footloose" and I was just cast as Ariel, so my opinion may be a little biased, but I absolutely love this soundtrack! I have been listening to it since I purchased it 6 months ago, and I am still not sick of it. The songs are catchy and very powerful. Trust me, these songs are not easy to sing, but they are performed very well on this c.d. I highly recommend buying it!

perhaps I'm a little biased because I'm an aspiring actress and just got casted as Rusty in a community theater production of Footloose but I think it's a wonderful show. Yes it's not this enormous work of art but it's down right FUN! I can just listen to the music over and over again and not get bored! It's just a party everytime... I do admit that I skip songs... mostly the Reverend's song because they're kinda lame but for the most part.... A+...