Payson High invites Kevin Bacon for ‘one last dance’ in celebration of “Footloose” 40th anniversary

PAYSON, Utah (ABC4) — On Feb. 17, 1984, Payson, Utah started dancing again.

This weekend the now-iconic 80s classic, “Footloose,” starring Kevin Bacon, will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. Though Bacon wasn’t the only star of the show. Payson High School set the scene for the movie, cementing its history not only in Utah but in Hollywood as well.

To celebrate, students and faculty at Payson High have been working so hard and punching their cards to eventually cut loose and kick off their Sunday shoes.

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It’s been a Footloose kind of year at Payson High with events, dances, and even assignments centered around the 80s film. While the events have been a fun celebration of the movie, they hope to cap it all off with Kevin Bacon’s return to the famous high school for one last dance at prom on April 20 before the school is torn down and rebuilt.

“We knew that if there was ever a time Kevin Bacon was going to come back to Payson, it was going to be this year,” said Payson High Student Council Advisor Jenny Staheli. “It just felt like the time for it to happen because it is the 40th anniversary, they are celebrating 100 years of film in Utah, the school is being torn down, all the stars align.”

Staheli told ABC4 the school’s student body and staff have been working hard behind the scenes to get Bacon’s attention to come back for prom. It’s been a year-long campaign that started with last year’s student council. Students and staff have been working on networking, lining up contacts and really putting to a test the theory that you’re always six degrees away from Kevin Bacon.

The whole project hasn’t been just a student council project, however. Staheli said it has been a Payson High School project.

The school’s social media team has posted several fun videos and photos with the hashtag #BacontoPayson using a cardboard cutout of Kevin Bacon enjoying life in the Utah County city. One English teacher created an assignment for her argumentative unit for students to write letters trying to convince Bacon to come back and the drama department reproduced the Footloose Musical to great success.

“We really felt like this was our chance to reach out to him, have some fun, to maybe do some good and really take a second – or a year in our case – to look at what that movie has meant to this community and to this school. [To] kind of connect all the dots together because it’s been an important part of Payson history ever since it was filmed,” said Staheli.

There may be a good chance that Bacon makes it too, though Staheli couldn’t guarantee anything. While the star of the movie has yet to respond to the school’s – and the governor’s – pleas on social media, Staheli said she thinks they are getting in touch with all the right people.

The school has been working with Kevin Bacon’s humanitarian foundation, Six Degrees, which the actor is very actively involved in. To celebrate the movie’s anniversary the organization has set a goal to build 40,000 essential resource kits. Payson High and Six Degrees will be teaming up on the day of the prom to build 5,000 of those kits, all of which will be donated to local charities selected by the Payson High student body.

“They’ve been so generous and so kind,” said Staheli. “It’s going to be a cool event and I’m very excited about it.”

Alayna Bullard, a senior at Payson High School who serves as a student body officer overseeing events, said she hopes Kevin Bacon hears their message and comes to the event and dance. She told ABC4 she understands just how important Footloose is to the history of the school and city.

“From what I understand, it’s how we got a lot of funding and money for the school so I really appreciate that they chose to do it here and it just adds to the culture that we have because it’s such an older school,” said Bullard. “It’s just fun to watch the movie and see the different spots that have been filmed here.”

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While this may be one of the last years the Footloose school will be standing, the history of Footloose will live on.

Staheli told ABC4 several items, including the locker used by Kevin Bacon’s character Ren McCormack, will be preserved and moved into the new facility along with other pieces of the movie. She also said the spirit of the movie will be kept alive just through the people and the community of Payson.

Now, whether or not Bacon actually agrees to come back for one last dance, Staheli said Utah will just have to wait and see.

“That element of surprise, you don’t get that moment back,” said Staheli regarding an announcement. “We will have to maybe wait and play it out if it happens.”

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