Footloose
The Musical

At
Theater at the Center
(Theatre At The Center Website)
1040 Ridge Road
Munster, IN 46321
219.836.3255
Through August 16, 2009
Through Special Arrangement with R & H Theatricals
(R&H Theatricals Website)

Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie: Stage Adaptation
Based on the Original Screenplay by Dean Pitchford
Tom Snow: Music
Dean Pitchford: Lyrics
Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins,
and Jim Steinman: Additional Music
William Pullinsi: Artistic Director
Alan Schwanke: Scenic Design
Nikki Delhomme: Costume Design
Tim Fandrei: Lighting Design
Victoria Deiorio: Sound Design
Libby Fandrei: Props Master
Devin Barthel: Wig Design
William A. Underwood: Musical Direction
Stacey Flaster: Director and Choreographer

Presenting:
Matt Raftery and Andrea Prestinario
Featuring:
Larry Adams, Cory Goodrich, Mary Jane Guymon,
Robert Deason, Donica Lynn, and Kent Haina
Press Representation:
Lianne Wiker/Noreen Heron & Associates, Inc.

Susan Weinrebe
July 16, 2009

Bomont is just another typical small town, until Ren McCormack moves in. People know everyone else’s business. Eyes are always watching what you do. The preacher’s kid is a wild thing, but most of the other kids are wholesome and toe the line. And everyone is totally repressed. For gosh sake, even dancing has been banned! That’s the response of grieving parents, lead by the local minister, to the driving deaths of teens some years earlier.

Of course, it’s fate that the big city boy, Ren, and the small town wildcat and minister’s daughter, Ariel, would meet and fall for each other. Ah, the fumes of teen-age hormones! Powerful stuff that. Ariel is rebelling against the restraints her parents placed on her, following the death of her brother in THE accident. Ren has an innate sense of justice and has just gotta move. Together, as in all good tales about teens, they demonstrate wisdom and enough persuasive tactics to soften the attitudes and change the minds of their elders, and voilà! By the end, everyone is dancing a happy dance.

Songs that are immediately identifiable popular standards from the 1980’s originated in Footloose. “Holding Out For a Hero,” “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” “Almost Paradise,” and naturally, “Footloose,” drew a huge reaction from the audience. When Matt Raftery as Ren first vaulted onto the stage in a grandstand acrobatic flip, he grabbed the audience and never let go. Ariel, the willful minister’s daughter, Andrea Prestinario, was the prototype for a girl who knows two things really well: how to push her parents’ buttons and how to attract guys…usually the “wrong” kind.

Larry Adams pronounced the platitudes of Reverend Moore and delivered his own numbers in a voice so dulcet and beguiling as to be nearly hypnotic. Teamed with his “wife,” Cory Goodrich, whose own musicality and beautiful range made me wish to see her and Adams in other roles, they brought parental authenticity to their parts and provided a steadying interlude to teen shenanigans.
Backing up Raftery as his sidekick, Robert Deason jumped into his country boy role with abandon. Donica Lynn, a belter of a singer, delighted the audience with her delivery, especially when she, Rebecca Pink, and Traci Allen did a quick change into glitter and flash costumes and let it rip with “Holding Out For a Hero.” Someone to hope for in larger roles, Laura E. Taylor, drew my eye every time she was on stage in her many small parts.

Summer vacation is a good time to enjoy cool, frothy treats. If you’re a teen, music fan, or just remember the ‘80’s, then Footloose will be all the more delicious.

Matt Raftery in"FOOTLOOSE"
at Theatre at the Center
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

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Andrea Prestinario and Matt Raftery in"FOOTLOOSE"
at Theatre at the Center
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

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Andrea Prestinario with the Ensemble in"FOOTLOOSE"
at Theatre at the Center
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

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The Full Ensemble in"FOOTLOOSE"
at Theatre at the Center
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

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Matt Raftery and Andrea Prestinario in"FOOTLOOSE"
at Theatre at the Center
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

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For more information, contact Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower at zlokower@bestweb.net