{"id":717,"date":"2023-06-07T00:58:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T00:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/?p=717"},"modified":"2023-06-12T00:43:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T00:43:54","slug":"footlose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/footlose\/","title":{"rendered":"FOOTLOSE"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

FOOTLOOSE<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Reviewed by Mart<\/strong>\u1f77n Hern<\/strong>\u00e1ndez<\/strong>
\nSimi Valley Cultural Center<\/strong><\/em>
\nThrough May 14<\/strong><\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Songwriter turned screenwriter Dean Pitchford took the gist of a 1980 news story about high school students challenging an 80-year-old ban on dancing in their small Oklahoma town and turned it into a script for the hit 1980s film,\u00a0Footloose<\/em>. Further success followed in 1998 when the film was adapted into a Broadway musical, with a book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, music by Tom Snow and several songs from the movie by Pitchford, Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Anne Wilson, and others.<\/p>\n

In this stellar production, co-directors Barry Pearl and Michelle Elkin, with Elkin doing double duty as \u00a0choreographer, have assembled a gifted cast that is as committed to the incongruous storyline as it is to an earnest portrayal of teen angst, inter-generational conflict, young love, and the redemptive power of music and dance. With an ensemble skilled at delivering assorted lyrics as well as Elkin\u2019s exuberant and at times acrobatic dance moves, the show is a toe-tapping delight. From the looks on the cast members\u2019 faces and the drive in their steps they looked like they were having a blast. You may have one too.<\/p>\n

After his father deserts him and his mom, Chicago teen Ren McCormack (Thomas Whitcomb) burns off his anger dancing at local clubs. Broke and unemployed, Ren\u2019s mom Ethel (Renee Cohen) relocates them both to the small town of Bomont in an unspecified rural state where they move in with Ethel\u2019s sister and brother-in-law. City boy Ren\u2019s ire only grows as he gets teased and bullied by his new country neighbors, but when he learns the town has outlawed dancing, his fury gets turbo charged. Reverend Shaw More (Paul Panico), a pillar of the community and the force behind the ban, is at wit\u2019s end with daughter Ariel (Hannah Battersby), who, along with her put-upon mother Vi (Ronna Jones), chafes under Shaw\u2019s rising severity. Ren finds a kindred spirit in Ariel, and they join forces to challenge Rev. More\u2019s dance damnation and find solace in each other\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

Played as thematic background music in the movie, cast members now perform the tunes, giving them a deeper and cathartic meaning for the character to whom they are assigned. Whitcomb\u2019s buoyant rendition of \u00a0\u201cI Can\u2019t Stand Still\u201d and his tender duet with Battersby, \u201cAlmost Paradise,\u201d reveal the vulnerability behind Ren\u2019s bravado. Jones, Cohen, and Battersby lament their characters\u2019 subservient status as women in the melancholy \u201cLearning to Be Silent\u201d \u2013 though Battersby\u2019s part leaned toward the flamboyant. Jones also stands out with a haunting solo on Vi\u2019s plea to Shaw for moderation in \u201cCan You Find It In Your Heart?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Marie Watkins as Ariel\u2019s best friend Rusty rips it up on \u201cLet\u2019s Hear It For The Boy,\u201d aided by the comic antics of her childhood crush and Ren\u2019s best friend Willard (Andreas Pantazis). And when Lily Targett as Urleen, and Megan Vargas as Wendy Jo \u2013 more of Ariel\u2019s homegirls \u2013 join Watkins on a sultry rendition of \u201cSomebody\u2019s Eyes,\u201d a critique on small town gossip, the trio are a force of nature. While Battersby jumped ahead of musical director Jeffrey Gibson\u2019s stalwart sextet on the ensemble piece \u201cThe Girl Gets Around,\u201d she acquitted herself with her lead on \u201cHolding Out For A Hero,\u201d with robust backing from Watkins, Targett, and Vargas.<\/p>\n

While the musical eschews darker moments from the film, such as the neo-fascism of one taut scene, there are still plenty of distressing themes to go around \u2014 parents losing children, the stifling of women\u2019s voices, domestic abuse, religious contradictions. There is also plenty of humor, mostly from the audacious dancing and roaring voice of Pantazis who, as Willard, can deliver simple but sage advice in \u201cMama Says (You Can\u2019t Back Down)\u201d \u2013 backed up by the melodious trio of Hunter Uliasz as Bickle, Noah Heie as Garvin, and Casey Ryan as Jeter \u2013 but gets tongue-tied any time he is around Rusty. Directors Pearl and Elkin get great musical and dramatic performances from their cast, such as Panico\u2019s conflicted preacher, Whitford\u2019s abandoned Ren, and Battersby\u2019s confused Ariel. Maybe their characters can be salvaged by a little dancing \u2013 what could it hurt to just cut loose?<\/p>\n

Simi Valley Cultural Center, 3050 E. Los Angeles Street, Simi Valley; Fri-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; Sat., May 6 & 13, 2 p.m.; through May 14. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>https:\/\/simivalleyculturalartscenter.thundertix.com\/events\/209730<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Running time 2 hours, 30 minutes, including 15 min. intermission)<\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”902″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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