Director's Note
Despite producing Grease last year which certainly had its rebellious teenagers, Footloose is actually a much different production. What's forgotten sometimes, is that the musical is about surviving a loss. The ban on dancing in this fictional town of Bomont isn't because of a religious restriction against it. Rather, it was put in place to save the young people of the town from the dangers that dancing could lead to: alcohol, drugs, promiscuous behavior and even death. The fear was real. Lives were lost and lives were lost due to what was found to be a night of dancing and drug use by a group of teens whose car dove off of a bridge and into a river killing all the occupents. There was pain. There was anguish and grief. And there was anger that it could have been prevented. Or so it was thought to be preventable if only there were tighter restrictions. And that is the cost of fear is the loss of freedoms. Reverend Moore projects this fear onto the community, and as such, they readily agree to losing a little of their freedoms. But the knee-jerk reaction is only a guise that hides the truth. When a person closes himself off from the truth of their own pain and grief, he or she also closes off his or her connection to others. So it is with Reverend Moore. So fearful of facing his own pain, he closes himself off to all that love him rather than opening up to them. Then along comes a Rebel unlike any other who is also dealing with his feelings of loss and grief, and challenges the status quo in his own way. Not to intentionally cause a raucous, but to dance because it's is one of humanity's greatest gifts - that of human expression, both joy and pain, through movement. As Ren says, "I just can't stand still." Doing so only reminds him of his pain. Dancing can release that pain and provide a much needed connection to others. So I hope you too can find a way to "kick off your Sunday shoes," and dance like no one is watching.
