Cut loose! Beaver Falls high wins national 'Footloose' contest
Beaver Falls High School is feeling "Footloose" for good reason.
The school's musical department won a national competition earning a free license package to perform the musical "Footloose" in celebration of the 25th anniversary of that popular show's 1998 Broadway opening.
Beaver Falls and nine other schools nationwide triumphed in the Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes: The Footloose Competition hosted by Concord Theatricals, an industry leader in providing services to creators and producers of plays and musicals.
Winning schools will receive an estimated $3,000 prize package including free production rental materials from iTheatrics, Right On Cue Services, and KeyboardTEK, and a three-performance licensing package for "Footloose," the hit musical adapted from the famed 1984 Kevin Bacon movie.
The Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes competition was eligible for high schools representing low-income communities, according to Playbill, the valued source of all things Broadway, which announced the winners. To enter, schools had to complete a written application including either a written essay or a video entry that shares how dance has changed their school community for the better.
Specifically, the competition posed this question to schools: "How has dance changed your school community for the better?"
Melanie Flick, director of musical theater at Beaver Falls, said "Immediately I knew that there was not a program or community that emulated this prompt more than our program at Beaver Falls. Angie Hendrickson ― second-grade teacher at Big Beaver (Elementary) and musical theater choreographer ― has instilled a love of dance amongst the cast members in our shows. Over the course of my years directing at Beaver Falls, the school, administration, school board and the entire Beaver Falls community has embraced our program. The outpouring of support is at times overwhelming! We celebrate the successes of our students, and now we celebrate the success of our program, through the recognition of receiving this honor."
Flick shared the words of Beaver Falls Class of 2021 graduate Demiah Brown: "The influence of dance created one of the most impactful changes in our community that I have ever seen... dance united us... it was a home. Whether you are a performer or an audience member, dance speaks to you. It is such a powerful language that has united Beaver Falls."
Beaver Falls' performances of "Footloose" will take place 7 p.m. March 24-25 and 2:30 p.m. March 26 at the Beaver Falls Middle School.
Beaver Falls' winning essay
Here's a copy of Beaver Falls' winning essay:
"Home. Safe. Family. These are the three words our students use to describe the auditorium and theater in our Western Pennsylvania school district.
"Our school, nestled at the base of sloping hills in downtown Beaver Falls, has witnessed much economic depression since the mid-1980s closing of its steel mills. The city’s pride historically resides in its sports programs, specifically football and basketball are king in this region. Our musical theater program has broken through the area's sports’stereotypes and has created a successful arts program. The football players dance in our productions instead of making fun of the arts kids.
"Students in our district come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, family makeups, and cultures. The environment that we encourage within our program brings this array of students together to create a unified ensemble. So much of this united front has been developed and nurtured through our focus on creating a rigorous dance program within our musical theater department.
"Six years ago, Angie Hendrickson (2nd-grade teacher and musical theater choreographer) and I, Melanie Flick (K-5 general music teacher and musical theater director/producer) took over the musical theater program in our district. It started as a small program, with minimal parent/community support. Together we saw our students’ potential and decided to challenge them and push them to achieve new goals on our stage. In seeing their talent and their worth and celebrating their strengths, perhaps where others did not, our kids quickly embraced the challenges and got on board. Together we forged ahead.
"Unlike most of the surrounding school districts, very few of our cast members have any formal dance training. We knew that in order to achieve excellence on the musical theater stage, we needed to bridge the gap in their dance background. We started by offering weekly dance classes for any student in the high school interested inparticipating. Our first class had over 30 students in attendance. It was immediately apparent that not only was there an interest but also a need to provide our students with dance instruction.
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"After a successful run of "Les Miserables" in 2018, we knew our students were ready and excited to showcase their dance skills, and we knew it was time to up the ante and present our casts with the opportunity to perform in a dance-heavy show. In 2019 we produced "Guys and Dolls," a challenging dance show, especially for the male ensemble. We had 25 teenaged young men participate in our show that year, and it was exciting to see the stage fill with their movement. Of the 25 young men, six were on the football team. It was amazing to see twins, Tyrell and Tyrese, who were linemen on the football team, do barrel rolls on the stage with the rest of the male ensemble. One of Angie’s gifts is her ability to push students to reach their maximum potential, with patient awareness of their limits. Amazing results rise from this hard but gentle teaching. Along with the great turnout of male actors, a trained dancer surprised us when she decided to quit competitive dance to participate in the musical because of the community that she saw developing amongst the cast. Demiah Brown joined us in 2019 and led the way as our dance captain throughout her high school career.
"On the heels of "Guys and Dolls," we pushed the bar further by producing "Newsies" for the 2019-2020 school year. Our dance classes incorporated tap in preparation for the number “King of New York.” After I tapped my own plea on social media, shoe donations came in from many different people and organizations in the community. The response was tremendous. Energized, our students tackled this new style of dance with gusto, excited to demonstrate their skills in our show. Tyrell and Tyrese were ready to make their lead debuts as Jack Kelly and Davey in "Newsies."
"As we all know, the world shut down on March 13, 2022 — three weeks before opening night of "Newsies." Along with the uncertainty of what COVID had in store for the world, our hearts were devastated by the loss of this production, which came crashing to a halt. I promised my students that I would do everything in my power to continue to make the show a reality, but I never realized how challenging that would be. We held rehearsals over Zoom, running lines and finishing blocking. Demiah recorded videos of the choreography in her bedroom and remotely shared it with the cast to review the choreography at home. The students’ dedication to our program and our production during a global pandemic made me realize just how special our musical theater program is to our cast and directing team alike. We are a family.
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"When we returned to school in a hybrid format in the fall of 2020, I had a tough decision to make and decided to put "Newsies" on the shelf and instead produce "The Drowsy Chaperone" for our 2020-2021 production. I approached the superintendent and school board, pleading for approval to also produce "Newsies" and bring back the 2020 graduates who had missed their chance to shine. I was granted permission and 15 months after our original opening date, the community witnessed the hard work and dedication of our students on stage — singing, dancing, and tapping their hearts out. It was the proudest moment of my directing career.
"As we approach our 2022-2023 production, excitement is building to begin rehearsing for our production of "Footloose!" Eleven freshmen joined our first dance class this year — new students who have no experience, but a lot of passion. It is rewarding to see our upperclassmen lead and teach the skills that they have learned over the past four years, a built-in mentorship program.
"Like the students of Bomont, dance has become an outlet for our students to express themselves in a productive and meaningful way. It is time for our new cast of students to cut "Footloose!'"
More contest winners
Along with Beaver Falls, the other winning schools nationally are Cairo High School in Cairo, Ga.; Carroll High School in Ozark, Ala.; Central High School in Blair County, Pa.; Cleburne County High School in Heflin, Ala.; Columbia High School in Columbia, Miss.; Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga.; Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Ind.; Middle Park High School in Granby, Colo.; and Waterbury Arts Magnet School in Waterbury, Conn.
"What most impressed and moved me about the entries of these worthy winners is how much the very act of putting on a show caused people to reach out, to move beyond their comfort zones, and to forge new, vibrant communities with a single, shared goal," said "Footloose" co-writer Dean Pitchford. "The final scene of 'Footloose,' then, becomes a joyous celebration not just for the characters in the musical, but for every person who has been touched by the experience of making theatre."
“There is nothing more heartwarming than to hear stories from schools about the power of theatre,” added Concord Theatricals President Bill Gaden. “Many of us here at Concord participated in high school theatre and know firsthand the feelings of teamwork, accomplishment, and pride that putting on a musical brings. We are thrilled to be able to reward these schools with free licenses to put on "Footloose" — each one is richly deserving. We look forward to stories about their "Footloose" productions, as well as the continued impact of arts on their schools and communities.”
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Cut loose! Beaver Falls High wins national 'Footloose' contest
