Track Listing

1. Act I: Footloose/On Any Sunday
2. Act I: The Girl Gets Around
3. Act I: I Can't Stand Still
4. Act I: Somebody's Eyes
5. Act I: Learning To Be Silent
6. Act I: Holding Out For A Hero
7. Act I: Heaven Help Me
8. Act I: I'm Free/Heaven Help Me
9. Act II: Let's Make Believe We're In Love
10. Act II: Let's Hear It For The Boy
11. Act II: Can You Find It In Your Heart?
12. Act II: Mama Says (You Can't Back Down)
13. Act II: Almost Paradise
14. Act II: Dancing Is Not A Crime
15. Act II: I Confess
16. Act II: Can You Find It In Your Heart? (Reprise)
17. Act II: Footloose (Finale)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42098 in Music
• Released on: 1999-02-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording

Amazon.com
Footloose is only one of a batch of dance-movies-turned-musicals from the late-'90s, but it's probably the best. Unlike Fame, it gives an audience the movie songs it expects to hear, and unlike Saturday Night Fever, it complements those songs with newly written, honest-to-goodness book songs that support the plot (written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow, who wrote songs for the original film). Like the 1984 Kevin Bacon film that inspired it, Footloose follows the story of Ren (Jeremy Kushnier), who moves with his mother (Catherine Cox) to a small town where dancing is prohibited by law. Teens will be teens, of course, so Ren ends up at odds with the town and especially the local minister, Reverend Moore (Stephen Lee Anderson). Along the way, the characters sing familiar songs from the movie ("The Girl Gets Around," "Holding Out for a Hero," "Let's Hear It for the Boy," "Almost Paradise," and of course the title tune), but the new songs are enjoyable as well. Footloose: The Musical doesn't exactly break new ground, but it's a good listen, particularly if you like the movie. The booklet includes a detailed synopsis, photos, and full lyrics. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Loads of fun, and arguably superior to the original
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.

Everybody cut Footloose!
The Broadway musical based on a hit movie of the same title from 1984 as a soundtrack! One of the most frequently performed school plays in recent years in English-speaking countries, the music from "Footloose" will be sure to sweep you off your feet and dance, just like as if you were in the cast of the show!

Everybody cut Footloose!

Wish this would come back around!
Ever since working on this show 2 years ago, I've tried to get a copy of this disk. I waited patiently for someone to start selling it again, to no avail. I wish they'd either start marketing this Original Broadway disk again, or else stage a revival! It is a fun show.
Finally, I had to go and copy this from a friend because I couldn't buy it anywhere... its definitely worth listening to!

I didn't give it 5 stars because sometimes it seems a little toooo over the top Broadway and because some of the slower songs don't quite hold my attention. However, the CD mostly makes up for this with high energy, high fun tunes that make you want to dance.