The blockbuster 1984 movie Footloose, with its equally blockbuster soundtrack, was adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. It’s a story about the power of dance, freedom, family, and empathy, centering around high school senior Ren McCormack. When his father leaves, Ren and his mother are forced to move from the big city of Chicago to the little Podunk town of Bomont. A small town that greets outsiders with wary eyes. Especially wild, big-city, odd-named kids like Ren who like to dance – a forbidden activity since the death of a carload of local teenagers following a night of dancing and drinking. And it’s a prohibition that the controlling moral force in the town, Reverend Shaw Moore, is determined to enforce as if the souls of everyone, including his own, depended on it.
Footloose @ The Franke is a dance not to be missed with a remarkably deep cast of talented actors, singers, and dancers. Ryan Murphy is new boy Ren showing off some impressive dance moves and vocals from his solo I Can't Stand Still to becoming the school's charismatic leader in I'm Free/Heaven Help the Man. Lucy Gensch shines as Ariel both in the strong, sassy & confident (The Girl Gets Around featuring an impressive Shane Klepper as her truly dangerous bad boy boyfriend Chuck Cranston), and in the sad and vulnerable. Ren and Ariel work well together, especially as they bond on the bridge through the pain each has endured and in their duet Almost Paradise.
Ariel's father Rev. Shaw Moore has Andrew Root trying to come to grips with the uncompromising and judgmental pastor he's become since the death of his son, giving a particularly poignant performance in a powerful scene with Ren as his mistakes with Ariel, his wife, and his congregation begin to dawn on him. Mary Claire Davis as his wife Vi Moore, and Hallie Machalka as Ren's mother Ethel, both deliver good performances as the other adults in the room dealing with family and community tensions and with some nice subtle humor. They meld together with Ariel for a touching Learning to be Silent.
Ren's new friend Willard is a riot with Gunnar Ousley serving up great gobs of belly laughs throughout highlighted by his singing the praises of his crazy Mama and learning how to dance. The latter feat inspired by long-time flirter, first-time dater Rusty, with triple-threat Ciara Funk knocking it out of the honky-tonk with fantastic vocals and humor. Kaya Oswald as Urleen and Eliza MacQuaig as Wendy Jo pile onto those vocals and humor with Rusty as Ariel's circle of true friends, but also on a serious note as they warn Ren of the trouble residents can face under the overly watchful glare of their neighbors in Somebody's Eyes. All four friends and the female ensemble combine for a showstopper performance of Holding Out for a Hero.
Director Jennifer Conley Darling and her creative team have put together a terrific production in all facets. Co-choreographers Beau Hutchings and Kathryn Kennedy-Grable have a ton of creative, clever fun with the show that enhance the numbers and that the cast excels in. That cast is wardrobed in some good 80s fashions (Allison Ebner & Amy Jones) and as well as some timely hair/makeup. The vocals are a hit up-and-down the cast (Music Director Dr. Laura "Doc" Gilbertson). It all adds up to a great night out at the theater with the full ensemble rocking the classic numbers from Somebody's Eyes to Holding Out for a Hero to I'm Free/Heaven Help the Man to some C/W fun in Still Rockin' led nicely by Jordan Harrell, the big Let's Hear It For the Boy, the boys in Mama Says, and everyone joining in at the big dance in the Footloose finale.
"Footloose" @ The Franke Center Youth Theater - 2/15/24 - 2/18/24
