Croswell Opera House stages musical version of movie 'Footloose'

Arlene Bachanov
·6 min read
The cast of "Footloose" is pictured during a dress rehearsal Wednesday night at the Croswell Opera House.
The cast of "Footloose" is pictured during a dress rehearsal Wednesday night at the Croswell Opera House.

ADRIAN — An iconic movie of the mid-1980s gets the stage treatment when the Croswell Opera House presents the musical “Footloose” this weekend and next.

The show opens at 7:30 p.m. today. Additional performances are at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 12; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 18; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19.

Tickets range from $20 to $40 for adults and $15 to $25 for students and can be ordered by calling 517-264-7469 or online at croswell.org.

“Footloose” tells the story of what happens when teenager Ren McCormack moves with his mother from Chicago to the small town of Bomont, Texas, and defies a ban on dancing that was instituted by the local preacher, Rev. Moore, after a tragedy in the Moore family.

The musical comes complete with all the best-known songs from the 1984 Kevin Bacon film, including “Almost Paradise,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” “Holding Out for a Hero,” and of course the title tune.

It was first produced on Broadway in 1998 and went on to garner four Tony nominations, two Outer Critics Circle nominations, and a Drama League nomination.

Gabrielle Blondin as Rusty, Aiyanna Fivecoat as Ariel, Anjewel Lenoir as Urleen, Elise Brown as Wendy Jo, and Griffin Yeater as Ren are pictured in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.
Gabrielle Blondin as Rusty, Aiyanna Fivecoat as Ariel, Anjewel Lenoir as Urleen, Elise Brown as Wendy Jo, and Griffin Yeater as Ren are pictured in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.

A film remake in 2011 kept the basic plot and a few of the songs but added several new musical numbers.

“The songs people remember from the (1984) movie are all here, and some of the iconic Kevin Bacon dance moves,” Erin Pifer, who directs the Croswell’s production, said. The storyline hews closely to the film, to the point that a fair amount of the dialogue is straight out of the movie, “with, of course, way more dancing and singing than was in the movie.”

The new songs written to round out a full-fledged stage show fit in well with the tunes everyone knows from the movie and benefit the story in different ways.

“You get insights into Ren’s character” through some of the music, Pifer said, and Ariel’s three friends — Rusty, Urleen and Wendy — become something of a Greek chorus, advancing the plot through song.

In one case, the music even provides some laughs. Willard, alongside Ren’s other friends, gets a tune in Act II, “Mama Says,” “that’s full of really silly advice,” Pifer said, “and although it doesn’t really fit stylistically because it’s a country song, it does give some comedy.”

There are actually two versions of the stage musical, one shorter and one longer. The Croswell is producing the shorter version, which is about 90 minutes plus an intermission.

This rendition doesn’t leave out much except for cutting a few songs, but it does present some staging challenges, mainly because there are places where people have to go offstage in one set of costumes and come immediately back on again in completely different outfits.

D. Ward Ensign as Rev. Moore confronts Griffin Yeater as Ren in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.
D. Ward Ensign as Rev. Moore confronts Griffin Yeater as Ren in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.

Pifer and her team decided to set the story in the year the movie came out, which meant needing to make sure everything in the stage version dated to that time. For example, referencing Diet Coke was OK, because that beverage came out in 1983, but a reference to Wikipedia had to be changed to Cliff’s Notes.

The production features an eye-popping 52 people in the cast, including Griffin Yeater (Adrian) as Ren, Megan Beckett (Toledo) as Ren’s mother, Ethel; D. Ward Ensign (Toledo) as Rev. Moore; Cyndy Brookover (Toledo) as his wife, Vi; and Aiyanna Fivecoat (Adrian) as their daughter, Ariel.

Ariel’s friends are played by Gabrielle Blondin of Linden as Rusty, Anjewel Lenoir of Adrian as Urleen, and Elise Brown of Sylvania as Wendy Jo. Ren’s friends are Maxwell Lam of Ypsilanti as Willard Hewitt, Abraham Nixon of Monclova, Ohio, as Jeter, Ben Bascuk of Waterville, Ohio, as Bickle, and Luke Gorsuch of Jackson as Garvin. “Bad boy” Chuck Cranston is played by Ben Logue of Bowling Green, Ohio, with Caleb Handy of Palmyra and Matthew Antalek of Adrian as his sidekicks Lyle and Travis.

Carolyn Cupp of Toledo and Carter Steude of Adrian play Ren and Ethel’s relatives, Lulu and Wes Warnicker. The high school principal is played by Bennice Byles of Adrian. Gym teacher Coach Dunbar is played by Megan Clark of Ypsilanti, with Kylie McElrath of Clinton filling the role for one performance. Kylie Bushman of Adrian plays the coach’s daughter Eleanor. Wyatt DuFord of Riga plays Cowboy Bob, a singer; Megan Sterling of Adrian is diner owner Betty Blast, and Noah Tarsha of Adrian is a policeman.

Rounding out the cast are Chance Adkins, Jon Antalek, Haylie Blohm, Madelyn Bowman, Abby Hall, Sarahfay Hendin, Abby Knight, Alex Pizana, Sage Pizana, Logan Richardson, Savannah Ritter, Brienna Scott, Eli Stachowske, Gage Sterling, Astrid Thomas and Hallie Yuen, all of Adrian; Mitchell LaRoy of Blissfield; Emily Haselschwerdt of Clinton;  Amber Woollcott of Grand Blanc; Carson Bartley of Ottawa Lake; Wesley Miner of Palmyra; Taylor Goodin of Petersburg; Oden Berthelsen, Macy Schmidt, Abigail VanCamp and Kimberly VanCamp, all of Tecumseh; Jacy Foos of Perrysburg, Ohio; and Lydia Carroll and Jeremy Szymanski, both of Toledo.

Bennice Byles as the school principal scolds Griffin Yeater as Ren for dancing at school in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.
Bennice Byles as the school principal scolds Griffin Yeater as Ren for dancing at school in a scene from "Footloose" at the Croswell Opera House.

Jessica Briggs and Sarah Nowak are the show’s choreographers, with Michael Yuen serving as vocal director. Ray Novak conducts the orchestra.

About 20 of the cast are brand-new to the Croswell, many of them because of auditions the Croswell held in Toledo and Ann Arbor for the first time.

“We’re really excited to welcome some new faces to the stage,” Pifer said. “They’ve fallen in love with the space and the history of the building.”

Pifer herself is definitely not a Croswell newcomer. The daughter of local theater icons Doug Miller and Julie Dolan, her career on the Croswell stage began at the age of 4 months when she was part of the parade of children in “The King and I.”

But “Footloose” is her Croswell directing debut, although she regularly directs shows for the Madison schools, where she teaches fourth grade.

“I’ve dipped my toe into the directing gig for a long time, and then this opportunity came up,” she said.

Tickets have been selling briskly for this kickoff to the Croswell’s summer season, and Pifer thinks it’s because so many people remember the movie and “people love the nostalgia,” she said. “And people also love a good dancing show.

“It’s a recognizable show and captures memories. Plus, people know they’ll have a good time. They’ll be singing and dancing in their seats.”

If you go 

WHAT: “Footloose” 

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. today; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 12; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 18; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19 

WHERE: Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian 

TICKETS: Adults $20-$40, students $15-$25 

HOW TO ORDER: By calling 517-264-7469 or online at croswell.org 

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Croswell Opera House stages musical 'Footloose'