Lose your blues, everybody cut Footloose! Footloose is the heartwarming story of how Ren McCormack, a teenage boy moves to a small town and finds out music and dancing is illegal. This makes it a challenge for him to fit in. However, he does so and changes the town with the help of his friends, Willard HeWitt and Ariel Moore. Junior Brandon Hayes plays Ren in the production here along with Senior Noelle Soucek as Ariel and Willard played by Sophomore AJ Hale.
Although the musical is based on the movie, there are changes when it is adapted for the stage. The musical includes more singing and dancing than the actual movie, in addition to other differences. However, Mr. Randy Duren, Theatre Studies, and Speech and Debate teacher, as well as director for Footloose, is hesitant to divulge information about the differences. “Well, I can’t just ruin everything,” he objects.
The cast members were willing to share a few more secrets. “Since it is a musical, everyone’s always expressing themselves through song which is fun and engaging for the audience,” Soucek says.
Music is a big part of the movie, because of the controversy surrounding it, but in the musical, the music is a greater focal point. The music is used more to move the story along. Hale agrees with Soucek when he states, “all the music in the musical actually comes from the [background music in the] movie and it’s really cool to see how all the music … brings out how the movie was originally.”
Hayes believes that the musical stays true to the movie in the sense that the plot is the same. “[But] I believe that the characters are much more developed in this [musical] than the movie itself,” he explains. “I think you really dive into what Ren’s characters about, what Ariel’s characters about, the fundamentals of their characters.”
Be sure to expect a musical jam packed with, “tons of energy, tons of excitement, singing, dancing, [and] acting,” Duren says.
The cast wants to engage the audience through all the musical numbers ,and, they hope to convey a message through their acting. Soucek mentions, “We want people to expect a fun lively show that [you] can enjoy and laugh but also feel touched at the same time. It’s about expressing who you are and having fun.”
“There’s very tender moments as well as very fun, upbeat, kind of tap-your-foot-to type of moments. I think it’s definitely a show that will entertain a variety of audiences depending on if you really enjoy dramas [or] comedies, etc,” Hayes remarks.