Cut Loose with ‘Footloose’ at Broward Center

If you’re old enough to remember the 80s, you’ll remember “Footloose” on the big screen starring Kevin Bacon. At the time, the movie enjoyed the largest February opening weekend in film history and grossed $80 million in North America. The soundtrack album – which included a string of memorable hits like “Almost Paradise,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” “Holding out for a Hero” and “Footloose” – sold more than nine million copies in the U.S. and knocked Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” off the No 1 spot.

The staged musical, based on the film by the same name, first opened on Broadway in 1998 where it ran for 709 performances, with a London production following in 2006.

Now you’ll be able to catch the Slow Burn Theatre Company‘s production, happening at the Broward Center‘s Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale between Dec. 17 – Jan. 1.

Slow Burn’s artistic director and co-founder, Patrick Fitzwater, reminisced with the Biscayne Times about the origination of the show.

“I loved the movie when I was a kid,” he said. “My being a male dancer in the 90s, when it was frowned upon, it was great to see Kevin Bacon on screen as a dancer. When it became a musical, we knew that the show wasn’t very strong, but we loved the cast and what a great time everyone was having.”

The high energy 80s dance show has been described as a “marshmallow of a musical” and “everything you’d ask for in a fluffy, light-weight musical,” but I beg to differ. It’s not so fluffy.

The story begins with Ren McCormack, a free-spirited teen rebel from Chicago who lands in a small conservative town where dancing and rock music are outlawed. They apparently never heard of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment in Bomont.

Seems a local preacher with outsized influence (played by John Lithgow in the film) managed to bend the law after his son was killed in a car accident on his way home from a dance party. Needless to say, Ren leads the charge against the town’s oppressiveness and even holds up a bible to publicly cite the scriptural significance of dancing as a way to rejoice and celebrate. Who is Ren’s chief ally? You guessed it, the preacher’s daughter, Ariel. The show ends with healing, reconciliation, and one big dance party.

“It has some very heavy-hitting moments now that I’m working on it. It’s a really a nice piece if you dig in deep and not get trapped in the songs,” Fitzwater said.

But getting trapped in the songs and the choreography is easy. Perhaps in the 80s, the storyline’s incomprehensible premise was a breeze to laugh off, but 30 years later we’re living daily culture wars with lots of people like the reverend in “Footloose” demanding that books be banned and pulled from school library shelves. Censorship is on the rise and rights we’ve enjoyed for decades are being taken from us.

Looking at “Footloose” today, the ban on dancing could be a metaphor for any number of current political battles across America.

“A lot of people don’t realize that, but it’s the most important part,” said Fitzwater. “It’s about censorship and people taking away other people’s rights … how religion can turn things into what wasn’t intended to be … it teaches you a lot about using your voice to make change. It’s very interesting the parallels that we are seeing today in society.”

Fitzwater also says the message of the show is not lost on the young cast in his production.

“The stakes are high and it’s very real for them,” he said. “It brings a different level of honesty for them. At the same time, there is so much fun.”

The regional cast promises to be talented group of young dancers, singers and actors that will have you moving in your seat, but Fitzwater hopes the show will also create conversations on the car ride home.

Tickets for “Footloose” are $49-$100; they can be purchased at BrowardCenter.org.