LVA adaptation of ‘Footloose’ to feature fancy footwork

The cast and crew of "Footloose," debuting at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Lowden Theater on the campus of the Las Vegas Academy have been working hard and fast to learn their parts for the musical based on the 1984 film, and they're confident that the practice will pay off.

"It's such a great ensemble show," said Jenna Szoke, the show's female lead, who plays Ariel Moore. "We're all working so hard, but it's still fun because the show is fun."

This year, the theater department at LVA, 315 S. Seventh St., decided to adopt a theme for the season, which became the social media hashtag #youbeyou.

"We decided to pick shows as a message for our kids on the importance of being unique and being true to one's self and of being honest with one's self and those around us," said Gary Kilmer, theater instructor and director of the show. "The first of those shows was 'Rent' that was mounted in the fall."

The "Footloose" musical is based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon about a teen with a passion for dance who moves to a small town that reacted to a fatal car accident by banning dancing. He falls for the wild daughter of the Reverend Shaw, who was instrumental in implementing the ban.

" 'Footloose' is literally about a boy who teaches a town that it's OK to express yourself through dance," said Kilmer. "He convinces Shaw to see life through another man's eyes or, more specifically, to walk a mile in another man's shoes.

"We wanted to explore the possibility of using art as a tool towards social justice. It's a way to use your art to speak for equality, not only for the groups you belong to."

The cast members have been working on the show since Jan. 4, starting later than they normally would have to avoid conflicting with another show that shared cast and crew members. Kilmer brought the cast together with team-building exercises, including one called "cross the line," in which students were invited to cross a line if they were part of a group that Kilmer called out. The categories started simply with factors such as being born in Las Vegas but then moved to deeper territory.

"For example, 'Cross the line if you or someone you love has struggled with alcoholism or addiction.' It's an empathy exercise," said Kilmer. "The students self-identified. They didn't have to participate, but they did. After 40 or 50, they started to realize we make judgments about people without really knowing what's going on in their lives."

He said that the students took a look at one another and saw that people they thought were very different from themselves were having some of the same struggles and dealing with many of the same problems.

"This cast has come together in a way that makes me very proud," said Kilmer. "We've taken on the mantra of 'Let it begin in this room,' and the large cast of more than 50 students have become a tight-knit family that is very supportive of one another."

He cited one student who faced the death of someone close to her. The other students jumped in to support her, doing everything from little things such as opening the door for her to being aware of when she needed a few minutes to collect herself and handling her duties for that time.

"I didn't ask them to do that; they just did," said Kilmer. "Even in this day, when people think teens are disconnected and harsh. Every generation thinks the next generation is going to hell in a handbasket, but these kids prove that wrong every day. I'm really proud of them."

The actors said that because of the time crunch, there was no time for backsliding. They had to come back to the next rehearsal with the work developed in the previous rehearsal down pat.

"It had to be perfect," Szoke said. "There was no time to be reviewing things we had already learned. The cast is so big that it was important that we became a unit because we didn't have much time. "

Maverick Hiu, who plays Ren McCormack, the show's protagonist, majored in theater for his first two years at the academy but switched to dance because he felt he needed to refine that skill. The role is testing both disciplines.

"The hardest thing for me is a number called 'I Can't Stand Still,' and my character has a dance break in it and then immediately starts singing," Hiu said. "Dancing and singing are polar opposites in terms of how you breath and what you support. I love it, but it's hard."

The students handle every aspect of the performance and production with the exception of the conductor.

"They are the backstage crew, the stage management crew, the lighting crew, the sound crew and set-building crew," said Kilmer. "I have students that have learned to weld and to do really advanced woodworking. Everything the audience will see is student-generated and student-run."

The show follows the film fairly closely, with most of the changes being location changes to simplify the sets. The original film is one of Szoke's favorites, and she has seen it many times. She let out a groan when she heard Hiu's confession that he had seen the 2011 version first.

"I saw the remake first, but I'm a Bacon guy in this show," Hiu said. "I guess you can say I'll be really bringing home the Bacon."

Performances of the show are scheduled at 7 p.m. Feb. 18-20, 26 and 27 and March 3-5 and 2 p.m. Feb. 27. Tickets are $20, $12 for students and $15 for seniors 55 or older. Visit lasvegasacademy.net.

— To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.