THEY were dancing in the aisles (literally) as this new musical based on the hit 1980s film starring Kevin Bacon hit the stage at the Alexandra Theatre.

The all-singing, all-dancing show - like a mixture of Fame and Grease - followed the story of Ren who is forced, after his father leaves home, to move with his mother to the backwater town of Beaumont.

As if losing his father isn't enough, Ren then finds out that dancing - one of his main pleasures in his home town of Chicago - is banned in Beaumont after being blamed for causing a fatal crash that claimed the lives of four youngsters.

Ren then starts a mission to convert the town's vicar - who also happens to be the father of the girl he has fallen for as well as the leading light on the town council - into rethinking this archaic law.

The vicar's daughter, Ariel, supports Ren's quest and is in danger of alienating her father.

But, as in all good tales, the vicar is eventually persuaded by Ren that the time has come to end the ban.

The musical ends with Ren organising a dance in Beaumont and this climax of the show features fine renditions and dance routines to the songs Footloose, No More Heroes and Let's Hear It For The Boys. The vicar, his wife and other members of the town council even join in with the superb dancing.

All of the dancers deserve great praise for their routines which were breathless to watch and needed great fitness levels as well as co-ordination.

Ren and Ariel deserve special praise as stars of the show, combining emotional strength with fine dancing while the vicar, played by Oliver Tobias, captured perfectly a man torn between his religious beliefs and love for his family.

The costumes were also great, being a real flashback to the fashions of the 1980s and the set was minimalist but perfectly captured the essence of the show.

I would certainly watch the musical again and it has given me an appetite to rent the film out on DVD and enjoy the songs all over again.

AG