UNTIL JUNE 5, BRISTOL: Set in small town America, governed by a God-fearing and killjoy council, the story of this musical is pretty simple.

A college boy and his mother move from Chicago to the little town of Bomont to live with relatives after the boy's father walks out on the family.

Ren McCormack is used to a normal teenage social life with clubs, music and dancing. He's horrified to find that dancing is banned in his new home town.

Needless to say he sets about making some changes. It is actually loosely based on a true story.

It is the vehicle for a high energy spectacle.

Chris Jarvis is Ren, who seems inexhaustible. He has charm, and abundant talent as both singer and dancer.

Rachael Wooding is Ariel, the wayward daughter of the preacher whose word rules the town. She has an electric presence, a good voice and great chemistry with Jarvis.

Taylor James made a lot of friends as Willard Hewitt, a lovable lummock, who is reluctantly forced to admit he can't dance, and his friends set about teaching him, which is a delightfully funny scene.

His girlfriend Rusty (Cassidy Janson) had one of the most powerful voices in the cast, notably in Let's Hear It For The Boy and, in a quartet with Ariel and two of the other girls in Holding Out For a Hero, a number taken high into the charts some years ago by Bonnie Tyler.

But it's the dancing that this show is all about, intricate choreography, demanding athleticism and endless energy. It's at the Hippodrome until Saturday well worth the trip.

Footloose: Music Tom Snow, Lyrics Dean Pitchford

Bristol Hippodrome