Review: Flashdance, Sunderland Empire, until Saturday night
Do sparks fly in this new take on the much-loved story of welder-cum-dancer Alex Owens? Pulling on her leg warmers in the central role in this chick flick classic is Joanne Clifton. She comes to the new tour packing some dance clout as the reigning Strictly Come Dancing professional champion.
Fuelled by nostalgia, fans of the film won’t be disappointed with the plot which follows the same thread as its 1983 namesake.
But it’s also been injected with a darker sub plot of Alex’s best friend Gloria, played charmingly by Hollie-Ann Lowe, whose seedy nightclub dancing leads her down the path of Class A drugs. (As such, there’s an age guidance of 11-plus on the show.)
Heroine Alex is in no danger of dabbling with drugs, she’s far too spunky for that, and though Joanne’s dancing abilities were never going to be in doubt, she also acted well, imbuing the character with the tomboyish charm which made her so endearing in the original.
Alex’s main squeeze, Nick Hurley, is played by Ben Adams of A1 fame, whose vocals were the most outstanding on the night. His background of boy band ballads came in handy for the slower numbers such as Here and Now and Hang On and he really managed to draw out the emotions in the songs.
It is of course the fast-paced numbers, however, which will attract people to this show and the well-known tracks, such as Maniac, are the ones that pack the most punch.
However, it wasn’t one of the heroine’s numbers which stole the show for me, but that of I Love Rock and Roll, performed with eye-watering flexibility by Demmileigh Foster as Tess.
I’d expected the famous climatic audition for Shipley Dance Academy to be the stand-out moment, but it fell a little flat for me.
Though Joanne certainly gave it her all, performing with faultless footwork and abs of steel to the infectiously toetapping What a Feeling, I missed the interaction with the stuffy panel which made it so iconic in the film, while the introduction of the other dancers just a couple of minutes in jarred with one of the most famous solo dance scenes from the silver screen.
It’s not quite a 10 from Len, but it’s a good seven.