Oakton High Opens 'Footloose' Tonight

Oakton High drama students will put one of the most popular movie musicals on stage this weekend when they open Footloose.

Drawing from the version adapted for Broadway in 1998, the production will feature many of the songs made popular by the 1984 film, which was rebooted on the big screen in 2011.

The show centers around Ren McCormack (Aidan Smith), who moves to small, religious town that has banned dancing and rock music. He soon becomes interested in Ariel Moore (Emma Mankin), a girl intent on rebelling against her father who is a reverend and key member of the town council. Together, they start to push back against the laws.

"It's really perfect for high school because it takes place in high school. It's nice to have a show where most of the kids are playing their age and playing a situation they can understand," said Vanessa Gelinas, the director and a drama teacher at the school. 

Gelinas has been in charge of the spring musical for four years, previously overseeing the musical productions of Oklahoma!, Anything Goes and Little Women. Footloose is her first foray into bringing a more contemporary musical to the Oakton High audience.

In her third year as choreographer for the spring musical, senior Sarah Smith has used the contemporary feel of the show to incorporate more current moves than she was able to offer to the traditional shows. Smith, a Cappie nominee last year for her work on Oklahoma!, recruited fellow dance team members to help her pull off some of the more difficult choreography.

"With Footloose I kind of wanted everything to be big and exciting and complicated, because that's what Footloose is about," said Smith, who also plays Rusty, Ariel's best friend. "I think the choreography is much more exciting and dynamic this year, and everyone is having fun with it." 

The show had to be put together at an accelerated pace with an opening date so early into spring. The musical is typically set for early May. With a late March opening, working on casting, the score and the set began in December. 

The tech hands for the show had to keep their shortened timeline in mind when designing the set, forgoing the elaborate and large sets of years past for a more minimal design. 

"We had to design an idea that was really modular and easily move around the stage, so that was different for my tech class," Gelinas said. "The challenge was how to still be creative but not on a huge scale."

Gelinas said the cast, crew and pit have all worked hard to make it come together, and she's excited for the community to see the final result.

"I know it's early this year, so I don't want people to miss it because it snuck up on them," Gelinas said. 

Footloose opens 7 p.m. today in the Oakton High auditorium with shows on Friday and Saturday at the same time. Students can buy tickets during lunches for $8. Tickets at the door cost $10.