Footloose
August 1 through 17, 2003
Directed by Desha Crownover. Adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. Music by Tom Snow. Lyrics by Dean Pitchford. Additional music by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman. Based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford.

Reviews

By Ben Hooker
San Diego Playbill

One of the top-grossing movies of the Eighties, with one of the top-selling soundtracks ever, has been transformed into an energy-packed, dance extravaganza stage musical. Unlike some movie-to-musical productions, this one actually transfers fairly well. And whatever it loses in emotional depth, it definitely gains in comedy!

Footloose is the tale of Ren McCormack – a high school student who has to move from the big city of Chicago to the little Podunk town of Bomont where he finds, to his amazement, that dancing is illegal. As the Director’s Notes indicate, the story is based on Elmore City, Oklahoma where an old anti-dancing law was still strictly enforced, leading to a battle with the city council in 1979 when the high school seniors wanted to hold a prom. Like Elmore, Bomont’s city council is led by a minister who believes he is saving the town’s youth from the devil. Can the youth and the adults of Bomont step into each other’s shoes long enough to resolve the debate – and before senior prom is missed?

Jesse Bradley plays the role of Ren, the big-city new kid who is quickly seen by most of the adults of Bomont as one of the devil’s henchmen and a danger to their town as he fails to adjust to their small-town norms as quickly as they’d like. But he just wants to dance – and dance he definitely does as he leads a talented all-star cast, made up of several Junior Theatre senior veterans, through several dazzling dance scenes filled with charisma and comedy.

When he’s not dancing, he’s out getting himself into even more trouble as he tries to romance the minister’s daughter Ariel (Courtney Linton). Turned on by Ren’s big-city background and later by his niceness (qualities completely missing from her current bully boyfriend played with great brutishness by Kit Medina), Ariel is the rebellious preacher’s daughter whose angelic voice was last heard as Junior Theatre’s Cinderella and who is here delivering the beautiful duet Almost Paradise with Ren from on top of a huge bridge support (set design by Tony Cucuzzella), as well as leading her group of friends in Holding Out for a Hero.

Speaking of those friends, that’s where the real comedy comes into play. First, let’s hear it for the boy Joey Price, Ren’s hickish and conversationally challenged friend who can’t dance and is even more awkward trying to talk to Ariel’s best friend Rusty (Jacqueline Lopez, star of last summer’s Once On This Island). Rusty, on the other hand, can talk for the both of them! Joey’s charmingly farm-boyish manner and his hysterical rise from a guy with two left feet to a John Travolta in overalls, accompanied by his group of amusingly simple but loyal friends and by the unbelievable vocals of Jacqueline Lopez and her own group of amusing friends, help make Let’s Hear It for the Boy the biggest scene of the show, followed closely by the following scene in which Joey Price and pals reveal tidbits of homespun wisdom and sage advice in the hilarious Mama Says.

Great vocals abound, especially in Ariel’s circle. Jacqueline Lopez, Ashlea Armstrong, Blair Hollingsworth, and Shanda Pierce combine their talents for the mesmerizing Somebody’s Eyes as they warn Ren of small-town busybodies who are watching out for anyone who steps out of line. The minister’s wife Vi (Brigitte Beas) delivers a tender rendition of Can You Find It in Your Heart?, and Brian Polk excels both singing- and acting-wise as the emotionally torn Reverend Shaw.

The ensemble is filled with talented comedians, including a little cameo by Betty Blast (Courtney Alston), the roller skate-challenged owner of the town’s meal-on-wheels burger joint. But for this show’s big numbers that conclude both the first and second act, a large and talented dance ensemble is necessary. No problem for this group put together by Director Desha Crownover. The cast takes on Definique Juniel’s choreography with unbridled enthusiasm and easily ensures a roaring, standing ovation from the Junior Theatre audience.