FOOTLOOSE is playing at PlazaCo thru August 4th. While every performance this weekend is Sold Out, there are still seats for every performance the last two weekends. We highly recommend reservations as soon as possible if you plan to attend. Call 817-202-0600 or visit www.plaza-theatre.com/ticketing to reserve. Now read on for a great review of FOOTLOOSE from Paul Gnadt of The Star Group Newspapers.
Hoof it to the Plaza to see ‘Footloose, the Musical’
By Paul Gnadt
Those people jumping on car rooftops to strike a defiant pose with one fist raised skyward and dancing down the sidewalk with a double leg vault over the fire hydrant aren’t nuts, they’ve just seen Plaza Theatre Company’s “Footloose, the Musical,” playing Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 4 at the Plaza Theatre in Cleburne.
Featuring the PTC debut of two lead actors, dozens of young dancers from the theatre’s summer camp, and the multiple talents of the Barrus family — cofounders of PTC — “Footloose” is a fun evening at the theatre.
And predictable. There is no suspense and not much drama, just good songs and good dancing; exactly what a musical is supposed to be.
The impact of the Barrus bunch is big. Husband and wife JaceSon and Tina are the co-directors, JaceSon designed the sets and plays the part of Clark, the high school principal; Tina designed the costumes; oldest daughter Tabitha is the choreographer and is double cast in the female lead; oldest son Parker plays the shy and socially backward Willard who — predictably — goes from wallflower to wildflower (his version of “Mama Says” is a good one); daughters Eden and Miranda have faces-in-the-crowd supporting roles, youngest son Cameron plays a tag-a-long kid; nephew Nigel plays a high school student and niece Chloe is another tag-a-long.
The show is the debut of Jace Bachman as Ren, and Kelsey Wooldridge as Ariel (the part double cast with Tabitha Barrus in the role Fridays and for the Saturday matinee.) PTC regulars already know Barrus can sing, dance and act, and now we know Wooldridge can, too. Only a senior at North Crowley High School, she has a stage presence beyond her years.
Bachman, too, brings a self confidence and some incredible dance moves to the part. The entire cast seems to play off of his energy. Bachman plays Ren, a Chicago street-wise teen who moves with his mom to her sister’s place in Bomont, Texas, after the dad walks out of the home.
He is immediately at odds with his schoolmates and townsfolk, whose spiritual life is overseen by the influential local minister Rev. Shaw Moore, played by the veteran and versatile Jay Lewis. It’s also a family affair for Lewis, too, as his wife, Shauna, plays the wife of the family who takes in Ren and his mom, and the Lewis’s son, John, plays the coach who kicks Ren off the tumbling team.
Ren breaks out in song and dance with “I Can’t Stand Still,” but is shocked to learn dancing is not allowed in town, a decision resulting from a car accident five years ago in which four local teens died, one of whom was the pastor’s son.
Because the teens were returning from a dance, the pastor used his considerable influence to ban dancing. The pastor’s daughter, Ariel, (Wooldridge and Tabitha Barrus), however, is rebellious and sneaks out with her bad-boy biker boyfriend Chuck (PTC regular Daniel Robinson) to attend dances, which heightens tension in the home and leads to two introspective songs, “Learning to be Silent,” and “Heaven Help Me.”
When Ren walks Ariel home after she has a fight with Chuck and the pastor sees them, he forbids her to see Ren again, calling him a troublemaker.
PTC veteran Darcy Farrington is Vi, the pastor’s wife, who tries to tell her husband (“Can you Find it in Your Heart”) he is consumed by anger over the death of their son and has allowed his anger to ruin his relationship with Ariel and threaten their marriage.
Ren and his teen bopper buddies head to out of town dances, where Willard gains self-confidence and everyone dances to a really good song called “Can You Find it in Your Heart?” performed by Emily Warwick . Ren takes the issue of dancing to the town council, who supports the dancing ban because the pastor told them how to vote.
When Ren figures out the pastor’s behind-the-scenes influence, he meets him privately at the church. It’s the pastor facing the son he lost versus the teen confronting the father he never had. But the meeting doesn’t go well and Shaw throws Ren out of the church.
Disappointed in himself, the pastor realizes the pain over his son’s death has controlled his life. He changes his mind and announces that dancing is OK.
With music by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, based originally on a movie screenplay by Pitchford, with music directed by Caryn Martin and amazing sound and light design by G. Aaron Siler, “Footloose, the Musical” plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Saturdays through Aug. 4 at the Plaza Theatre, 111. S. Main St., in Cleburne.
Tickets — $15 for adults, $13 for age 65 and high school or college students, and $12 for children age 12 and under — are on sale from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the box office or online at http://www.plaza-theatre.com. Phone 817-202-0600.
