Footloose Cast Recording

[timote316]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:11pm

In the Brooklyn cast recording discussions recently, people have mentioned that its almost as bad as the Footloose cast recording. I just have a question, what makes the Footloose recording so bad? I actually enjoy it...

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:12pm

So do I...but I think I will enjoy Brooklyn too.

Updated On: 12/22/04 at 09:12 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:16pm

I do too, actually lol. I went to Circuit City today to look at the CDs, but they didnt have it (I came out with Cabaret and Assassins, so I'm happy anyway lol)

[kim1061]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:45pm

i enjoyed footloose alot...maybe because there was a lot of dialoge(i can't spell sorry)? i don't know.

[PJ]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:50pm

I enjoy several of the songs from the cast recording. I did the show last spring and found the cast recording because of that. While some of the songs, well...are just subpar, I find a couple very listenable. My favorite on the disc would have to be "On Any Sunday/Footloose,""Somebody's Eyes," and "Let's Hear it For the Boy."

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 9:57pm

I remember seeing the show and really liking the music, but I've heard awful things about the cast recording. Talented cast, too. Weird.

[timote316]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:03pm

I love the cast. Granted, its not the best music in the world, but its not that bad.

I recommend it, emcee, especially because you liked the show. Plus, Jeremy and JLT are pretty good on it

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:04pm

Gah. Jeremy.

[broadway_star_tomorrow]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:09pm

i like the cast recording, but as stated earlier, that probably has a lot to do with the cast itself.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:10pm

I saw the show first, but it was a high school production. so I bought the CD hoping that what was on Broadway was better and yeah for the most part it is, but it's silly to have all those actual songs that were just scoring for the film become actual songs on stage. I really like "Somebody's Eyes" but it was actually better live (even for a high school production) because it's gets reprised a few times and those aren't on the CD. Over all though, it's a very weird out of balance show because there are the songs from the movie that are rock/pop flavored and then the songs that the priest/minaster (whatever) sings that are all borderline embarrassing lyric wise... but "Almost Paradise" is a godsend. Who doesn't love that song?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:14pm

I love Almost Paradise!

[timote316]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:17pm

Excellent song!

[Kris2]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:44pm

I can't help it. I just love my Footloose OBCR. It makes me dance. It's not a musical with a huge amount of substance, but I enjoy it a lot. It's good fun =)

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:47pm

Now I have to put mine in...

Footloose was my first professional Broadway show AND my first cast recording. I saw it in Cleveland during its first stop of the first national tour. It holds a special place in my heart.

Damn, why didn't I save the program??

Updated On: 12/22/04 at 10:47 PM

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/22/04 at 10:56pm

Awww, lol...sorry, I am turning this thread into a rememberance thread. Look what I found:

The National Tour of FOOTLOOSE has opened in Cleveland at the Allen Theatre, where it will play through January 3.

Marianne Evett of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said FOOTLOOSE was "full of youthful high spirits. The high voltage energy onstage is just as much fun as in New York."

Russ Musarra in the Akron Beacon Journal said "the cast cuts FOOTLOOSE into a winner onstage. The high-energy performance adds to the successful 1984 film."

Let's hear it for the boys and girls who generated enough energy onstage at Cleveland's Allen Theatre Wednesday evening to light up Playhouse Square with no help from the power company.

[Bal]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 2:20am

I actually just got this yesterday.

Don't tell anyone, but Footloose (the Broadway musical) is my favourite guilty pleasure. I saw it six times this summer...

....Mainly because I have a HUGE crush on the guy playing Willard. Mmm.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 9:40am

There really is no point in reasoning with you posters and trying to explain why footloose is absolutely the most subpar recording/show. etc... If you have a set of working ears, it should be obvious and needs no explanation. Footloose, was the beginning of the end... It set all the mediocrity that is so well tolerated by everyone now, in to motion. You're eyes and ears are just used to crap. None of you had the good fortune to see shows such as Evita, or Dreamgirls, to know better. Yes, I'm being a pr*ick snob right now, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. It was also one of JLT's less than fine moments. Not her genre at all.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 9:52am

There's no point in comparing Footloose to Brooklyn. They have virtually nothing in common. I really don't see what is so wrong with the Footloose recording. There are many good voices singing some good songs. There are a couple of new songs that I don't think are very good, but Mamma Said is hilarious and well-performed. I really enjoy the recording, but I thought the stage production was horribly misconceived and poorly staged. It had a lot of potential and could have been much more successful.

Al Dente - There was plenty of subpar mediocrity before Footloose ever came on the scene. As a matter of fact, there was a lot worse. The show ran less than two years and I think it was not nearly as influential as you give it credit. Think about the run Fame has had in London and Footloose seems like an underrated masterpiece.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 10:06am

You're right Matt, there were, but not "all around". Footloose had absolutely nothing going for it, save a few good performers directed poorly. Bad clothes, choreography, musical direction, arrangements, body shapes, (sorry, I enjoy my dancers with bare bellies, taut),color scheme, sets, etc... I can't give this topic any more energy, it's not deserving of it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 10:11am

Footloose had one very important thing going for it and that was the story and music that was one of the most popular and beloved films of the 80s. That was the launching pad for the show and, I must admit, was the reason I wanted to see it. I do agree completely that it was poorly staged and directed. There was some good choreography and some bad. It's choreography was as uneven as its score, BUT I don't think it was the "standard" for mediocrity acceptance. It was a very good idea that was artistically misguided every step of the way. But I do think it is a project worth salvaging and remounting properly someday.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 10:37am

Al, you are right, I did not have the chance to see Dreamgirls or Evita, but I have both cast recordings and I love them! I feel I have a love for all types of Broadway musicals. Sure, Footloose is not Dreamgirls or Evita, but it wasn't meant to be.

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 11:14am

I love the Footloose OBCR because we did it in my senior year of high school and therefore I listened to it nonstop for three months LOL. I really like it, and I HATEDDDD our production of it....so it's not that I like it because I did it, I like it because the music is fun :)

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 11:15am

Although I enjoy the Footloose cast recording, I understand completely when people say how subpar it is.
Having been a fan of Jennifer Laura Thompson from her Carousel days, after listening to Footloose, I can't help but notice how unsuited her voice was for the part. There are a few moments in "Holdin Out For A Hero" where I feel bad for her.

Its not the best thing out there, nor is it the worst thing. Its a great musical for High Schools and community theatre. So take it for what it is.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 12:44pm

I dislike the first half of Dreamgirls and most of Evita and love Footloose! I was quite surprised at what a good score it is, full of hummable danceable singable tunes. The only songs I don't like are the father's. So-so melodies and awkward lyrics. But the rest. Wow! The opening number is sensational. After listening to the cast recording, I am now really excited about seeing the production coming to the Kodak Theater in Hollywood this summer! And Al Dente, much as I also feel that there must be something wrong with people who like what I find abominable and want to scream at them "What's wrong with you!", I have come to realize that no matter how great I think something is, someone else will hate it, and vice versa. There is no accounting for taste. And no reason to call into question the intelligence of people who disagree. Updated On: 12/23/04 at 12:44 PM

[shira467]

Posted: 12/23/04 at 1:05pm

I only like the recording because I enjoyed the movie so much, and I'm currently on a Footloose kick. (I saw the movie a week ago.) Sure, if I hadn't seen the movie, it would be different, and on it's own the cast recording isn't anything but a rerecording of songs from the movie. But hey, it's fun.