Ladies and gentlemen, get your plaid shirts and cowboy boots ready, we’re about to have a hoedown. Mrs. Nancy Green, head of the drama department, and her collaborative colleagues have chosen the 2014-2015 school musical, Footloose.
Green faced challenges when choosing what show to put on, but in the end, the production team just listened to the students. Green claimed that “this seemed to be one that many kids wanted to do.” Green also stated that the production team knew that they had wanted to work on something different for the play — something that had a different style, different time period, and was fit for a large cast, which makes Footloose the perfect choice.
The production team decided to do Footloose since it was an opposite of last years play, Fiddler on the Roof, which was very sad. Footloose is very different as it is more upbeat, fun, and positive. “We try to do a contrast, last years play was very serious, this one is more upbeat and fun,” Mrs. Jones stated.
Based on the 1984 movie starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose, was turned into a Broadway play in 1998. What’s not to love about a show featuring songs like, “Holding Out for a Hero,” and “Somebody’s Eyes.” According to Stage Magazine, the Broadway version had been nominated for four Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Choreography.
Since this play is contemporary, it calls for a lot of dancing, which will be crucial for auditions, Students will have to complete “a short, choreographed routine, and do a free dance for finding natural rhythm,” for their auditions. Students planning to auditions should memorize a one minute monologue and complete an application essay. Students should also have a song chosen from the musical ready to perform in front of the directors.
While the announcement of Footloose as next year’s play is very new, set pieces and costumes have already been envisioned. Big hair, neons, and leg warmers — all throwbacks to the ‘80s, will be featured. Additionally, since this play is set in a country town, actors and actresses may need to dig out their cowboy boots.
All of the producers are hoping to accomplish a lot during the production of this show. Both Mrs. Arist and Mrs. Jones are hoping that students will have fun, but Arist also hopes that students will “have fun expressing themselves through dance.”
This play has been around for years but Green believes that students here will be able to pull it off since “the setting is a rural community-small town, much like our own.”