AN audience at the Palace Theatre in Manchester were certainly footloose and fancy free when one of the most energetic and exuberant musicals on the circuit was brought to the stage.

Footloose is adapted from the early 1980s film of the same name (which starred the rather tasty Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer) and tells the story of Ren McCormack, who moves from Chicago to a small mid-western town where popular music and dancing is banned by law.

Loosely based around a true story, Ren struggles to overcome the deep-rooted religious and highly moral attitudes of the townsfolk - led by the Rev Shaw Moore - in a bid to get the senior prom reintroduced.

Anyway, that's enough about the plot. If you've never seen the original film then the chances are you never will, suffice to say that inevitably, the teenagers win and the grown-ups realise that maybe they aren't so bad after all.

Despite some artistic licence in the costume department (I didn't realise clear strap bras were available in 1984 but maybe Macy's was way ahead of M&S in the trendsetting stakes), the musical doesn't stray too far away from the film version.

And that's basically what makes the stage version infinitely more entertaining than other musicals that have been adapted from successful films (eg The Full Monty and Fame). It also uses much of the original soundtrack and Let's Hear it for the Boy, Holding Out for a Hero and the title song sound just as fresh as they did 20 years ago (although that's probably because they're such predictable floor-fillers).

I'd like to say that Rachael Wooding, playing the lead female role of Ariel, was disappointing and not nearly convincing enough as the rebellious teenage preacher's daughter.

The truth is her performance was practically flawless, complemented by a perfect voice, perfect good looks, perfect figure and perfect dancing - I hate her.

Chris Jarvis, as Ren, didn't quite match Kevin Bacon's performance in the starring role, but like the film, one of the most memorable scenes is when he teaches Willard Hewitt (Taylor James) to dance.

However much you may or may not have liked the film, Footloose is always going to be a success on stage because it's a tale of rebellion and repression that every teenage generation can identify with.