‘Footloose’ for a Cause

FOOTLOOSE

Location: Agassiz Theatre

DATES: May 5-7 at 8 p.m.

DIRECTOR: Andy B. Malone ’08

PRODUCRR: Taylor M. Owings ’08



As a child, I had the great pleasure of living in the same New York apartment building as Kevin Bacon. Sometimes I’d say hi to him in the hallway, wait until he turned around and then mouth the words to Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” while pulling a sick dance move/split combo. This has probably happened 8 times in my life, but I never had the courage to ask him if he wanted to do that thing where you wiggle your arms like an electric shock is passing through you and then you pass the electricity to the next guy.

“What an idiot,” you must be thinking. What blown opportunities! So imagine my embarrassment when my Grandma Joan, went up to him one day and asked him to sign her VHS copy of “The Air Up There!”

“Grandma, WHAT THE FUCK!!!” I thought to myself, but he didn’t seem to mind. As he walked away I screamed creepily, “I love ‘Footloose!’” He looked at me like I was from a town where you weren’t allowed to dance and then walked his dog.

But things have changed, kind of.

“Footloose” is now being put on by Harvard S.T.A.G.E. This adaptation of the film had a brief stint on Broadway in the late ’90s, but faded out because there was only one good song: “Footloose.” And even though there are several reprises of the title track during the show, it just couldn’t cut loose in the box office.

So what inspired producer Taylor M. Owings ’08 to see this once again realized on stage? “Every year Harvard S.T.A.G.E., a program that exposes inner-city Boston kids to the dramatic arts, puts on a fundraising musical. We chose to do Footloose because we love its ‘cut-loose’ attitude and knew everyone at Harvard would appreciate that at this point in the year. It has a top 40 score. The plot is fun. We know that Harvard students and our S.T.A.G.E. kids alike will love it,” said Owings.

The dynamic, get-you-to-literally-stand-up-out-of-your-chair, musical whirlwind is about young, energetic protagonist Ren (Kevin Barlowski) who moves out of the city with his monther to a rural town that has outlawed dancing. So what does this little revolutionary sparkplug do? He puts on a dance, much to the chagrin of the uptight Reverend Moore (Sean P. Bala ’09), but to the delight of the Reverend’s daughter and his own love interest Ariel (Sarah-Jayne Blackmore).

I guess Ren’s never heard of the old maxim “Don’t mix church and state,” but can you really blame him?

Director Andy B. Malone ’08, Musical director Jeff W. Howard ’08 and Choreographer Olivia A. Jennings ’06 have arranged some poignant love scenes, rehearsed beautiful songs and highly complex dance routines and have literally called upon every dance genre ever invented for the finale.