Footloose is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow (among others), the lyrics by Dean Pitchford (with additional lyrics by Kenny Loggins), and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. Lighting design by Ken Billington.
Contents
Plot
Act 1
Ren McCormack, an ordinary city teenager living in Chicago, IL, dances off the stresses from his long and arduous eight-hour work day at a dance club with friends. But this is his last visit; he tells them, due to financial pressures brought on by his father's abandonment, he and his mother Ethel have to move to a small town in the middle of nowhere: Bomont (much to the chagrin of his friends, who gripe, "Bomont?! Where the hell is Bomont?!"), where his aunt and uncle have offered them a place to stay. After arriving in town, Ren and Ethel attend church and get their first glimpse of the Reverend, Shaw Moore. A deeply religious, conservative man and a prominent authority figure in the town, Moore gives a long sermon lambasting the evils of "rock and roll" music and its "endless chant of pornography" ("Footloose/On Any Sunday").
After church, Ren immediately finds himself at odds with the repressive, stifling atmosphere in Bomont and meets Ariel, the Reverend's daughter and only person seemingly unfazed by her father's iron-fisted control. Ariel quickly dismisses Ren and runs off to a gas station where she meets her boyfriend Chuck Cranston, the local bad boy, and his buddies Travis and Lyle ("The Girl Gets Around"). While attempting to give Ariel her forgotten jacket, Rev. Moore catches Chuck with his hands around his daughter, much to his displeasure.
The next day at his new school, Ren accidentally bumps into Willard Hewitt, a slow-witted cowboy with strong loyalty to his mother, who decides to beat him up. Ren charms him and the two become friends. Ren, annoyed by how little there is to do in town, tells Willard about his exciting life in Chicago and starts to dance in the school's hallway ("I Can't Stand Still"). Willard tries to stop him, but Ren ignores his protests and puts on a show in front of everyone, including the school's principal, who angrily explains to him that dancing is illegal in the town of Bomont. Willard quickly comes to Ren's defense, explaining he is new in town and does not know the rules. As the hallway clears, Ren is introduced to Ariel's best friends: Rusty, Wendy Jo and Urleen. Rusty flirts with her crush, Willard, telling him how brave he is to have stood up to the principal on Ren's behalf. The girls explain to a bemused Ren that dancing in Bomont is, in fact, illegal; years ago, after a horrifying car accident killed four kids returning from a dance in a neighboring county, Moore became extremely righteous and campaigned to pass a law forbidding all residents from dancing. They warn him to lie low unless he wants to get into even more trouble than he already is. Unfortunately for Ren, his reputation has preceded him; the adults in town begin turn on him, leading to his uncle Wes slapping him after Ren loses his part time job ("Somebody's Eyes").
Act 2
Ren, Ariel, Willard and Rusty visit a dance hall in neighboring town, where they listen and dance to a live country band ("Still Rockin’"). Rusty repeatedly attempts to dance with Willard, but he weasels his way out, dragging Ren off to the bar to get drinks, where he explains that he doesn't know how to dance. Rusty overhears them, as do several cowboys, who begin to mock Willard. Rusty comes to his defense, saying that he might not be perfect, but she loves him anyway. Ren tries to teach Willard to dance, who after much initial stumbling and apprehension whips off an amazing dance combination, much to Rusty's surprise ("Let's Hear it for the Boy").
Chuck shows up at the Moores' home, looking for Ariel, and is caught by Shaw and Vi. As Chuck leaves, he tells them that Ariel is not where they think she is. When Ariel returns home, pretending she was at her friend's house studying, her parents reveal that they know she wasn't there. The argument between Shaw and Ariel starts to boil over and Vi attempts to intervene, but when Ariel suggests Shaw doesn't listen to anyone, he slaps her. Ariel runs off, leaving Shaw deeply shaken. Vi tries to console him, but urges that his reprimanding is not all that logical ("Can You Find it in Your Heart?").
Meanwhile, Ren, Willard and their friends try to find a way to present their idea to the town council. Ren shows them a speech he's prepared, as a rap ("Dancing Is Not A Crime"), but his friends aren't too sure about it. Ren, extremely discouraged, considers forgetting the whole idea. Willard shares with Ren some advice from his beloved mother: "You can't back down" ("Mama Says/Mama Says Encore"). Just as Ren's confidence has been restored, Ariel arrives, revealing she has just been beat up by Chuck, leaving her with a black eye. While Ariel tells everyone to leave her alone, Ren breaks through her defenses and comforts her. Ariel takes Ren to a hidden spot under a train bridge. There, Ren finds her poetry written on the walls and Ariel admits who she wrote them for: her deceased brother, Bobby, one of the kids who died in the car accident after the dance years ago. Ariel tells Ren how, in his grief over the loss of his son, Shaw shut down, and convinced himself banning dancing was the only way to "save" the town. She also gives Ren a Bible marked with various passages he can use for his motion. It is then they both realize they've fallen in love with each other ("Almost Paradise").
At the town council meeting, Ren stands up and attempts to explain his reasoning to the council, which includes the principal, coach, his aunt & uncle, and Moore. After he is quickly shot down by the council, Vi stands up for him, forcing the room to listen to his claim. Using direct quotes from the Bible, Ren argues that dancing is a profound, ancient, and historically religious celebration of life, and therefore, shouldn't be illegal. Ren is favorably supported by the crowd, particularly his fellow students, but the council, under pressure from Shaw, refuse to listen and the motion is unanimously dismissed.
Songs
Revisions
In April 2005, the show was revised slightly. Aside from numerous tweakings to the script, there are slight differences in the revised version's musical numbers:
New Act II opening, "Still Rockin'"
Removal of the 'rap' "Dancing is not a Crime". Now only the very first section of the rap is used and right before "Mama Says" instead of during the Town Council meeting. Ren gives a speech instead during the meeting.
Shaw's song "I Confess" removed and replaced with a much longer scene with Ren after the Town Council meeting and a short reprise of "Heaven Help Me"
Rusty, Wendy Jo, and Urleen now sing the opening of "Footloose" instead of Ren and the boys
Ariel now sings with Vi and Ethel during "Learning to be Silent"
"Mama Says" was shortened and removed Jeter, Bickle, and Garvin's solos
Instrumentation
Footloose requires a pit orchestra in a rock combo style. The instrumentation calls for two keyboards (with one keyboardist doubling as MD), two guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, and a woodwind player. The woodwind player doubles on clarinet, flute, tenor sax, and baritone sax. In the original Broadway production, there was also music for solo violin and cello.
Productions
Broadway production
The musical Footloose opened at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre on October 22, 1998 and ran for 709 performances until July 2, 2000. It was directed by Walter Bobbie with choreography by AC Ciulla.
Footloose received mixed critical reception. General consensus was that the show was in and of itself poor, but the music and talented cast made it entertaining. It was nominated for four Tony Awards. The wardrobe is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Original London production
A London production, billed as both Footloose: The Musical and simply Footloose in different press accounts, opened at the Novello Theatre on the Strand, following a United Kingdom touring version. It premiered on April 18, 2006, and closed November 11, 2006. Directed by Karen Bruce, the creative team included Morgan Large designing sets and costumes, James Whiteside as lighting designer, and Mike Dixon and Chris Egan as musical supervisors.
British national tours
Footloose, directed by Paul Kerryson, premiered in the UK at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in February 2004, where it played for three weeks before embarking on a 24-week national tour. A second UK national tour opened on January 4, 2006, at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. This time directed by Karen Bruce, it starred Cheryl Baker and Stephen McGann and went on to tour another 11 venues mainly in the south of England and Scotland.
The production transferred into London's West End, starring David Essex and Cheryl Baker in April 2006, before closing in November of the same year – due to the limited availability of the Novello Theatre. The production then embarked its third national tour, which opened in Salford in January 2007, and continued until July 2007, starring Lyn Paul. Then the cast returned to London at the Playhouse Theatre from August 17, 2007 through December 6, 2007; Lyn Paul continued her role. Footloose returned to the West End in September 2017 at the Peacock Theatre with Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan confirmed to take on the roles of Willard and Vi Moore.
A brand new production of the musical, directed by Racky Plews, returned for a fourth UK & International tour, premiering at the Maag Halle in Zürich on January 19, 2022. It then opened in the UK at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, in February 2022 and closed in August 2022 at the New Wimbledon Theatre.
A new production in co-production between Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the New Wolsey Theatre opened in May 2024 playing until October 2024.
US 10th Anniversary national tour
Prather Entertainment Group produced a "10th Anniversary" U.S. tour of Footloose.