“Footloose”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - September 2009

If you go to Footloose expecting a professional production up to the Mac-Haydn’s summer standards, you will be disappointed. But if you go expecting a lively youth theatre production, you will also be disappointed. That is not that the show isn’t lively and full of talented high school and junior high aged performers, but it is also full of adult professionals, and because this is such an odd hybrid of the professional and the educational arms of the Mac both sides tend to cancel out the other.

At first I thought the poor kids would pale in comparison to the professionals, but by the end I wished the professionals would take a hike (with the exception of the always enjoyable John Saunders) and let me enjoy the kids.

I confess that I have never seen the film of Footloose. It came out in 1984, a year after my older son was born and had my head in a diaper pail. I could have cared less about rebellious teens who just wanted to dance. But I was fully aware of the film’s existence, and the fact that it had been based on the true story of a Bible Belt community (Elmore City, Oklahoma) where dancing was against the law for almost a century. Staging musical theatre was probably verboten too, but that didn’t stop creator Dean Pitchford from turning his cash cow into a Broadway show in 1998.

The show itself is predictable and sophomoric, but the score, which retains all the hits from the film, is as much fun as you remember. And those 1980’s fashions and big hairdos are back with a vengeance! The plot remains the same: Chicago teen Ren McCormick (Joe Bettles) moves to the tiny rural town of Bomont with his mother Ethel (Rebecca Rizzo) to live with her brother Wes (radio personality Ben Patten of Albany Magic-WKLI) and sister-in-law Lulu (Chelsea Wengler) after Ren’s father deserts them. He manages to make a lousy first impression with just about everyone in town, especially the Reverend Shaw Moore (Saunders) and other town leaders, especially Principal Harry Clark (Glenn Balli) and Coach Roger Dunbar (Tom Hagan), when he is caught advocating dancing as a way to blow off steam and have some fun. Five years earlier four Bomont teens, including the Moores’ son, were killed in a car accident on the way home from a dance and the town has outlawed dancing as a result.

Rev. Moore and his wife Vi (Heather Dudenbostel) are struggling with their remaining child, the rebellious Ariel (Kendall Chaffee-Standish). When Ren and Ariel strike up a friendship and convince the senior class at Bomont High to challenge town law and hold a school dance, the adults and teens are at loggerheads. A secondary romance between Ariel’s gal-pal Rusty (Samantha Visconti) and Ren’s buddy, the solid country bumpkin Willard (David Armanino) who can’t dance, adds comic relief to the angst expressed by the main couple.

The problem is that most of the performers playing the adults are either too young for their roles, or not able to perform at a professional level. Conversely, Bettles and Chaffee-Standish are too old and too slick. They are very good looking in that Barbie-and-Ken kind of way, and not elderly by any means, but they look remarkably long in the tooth standing next to real teens like Armanino and Victoria Ruddle and Eleah Peal, who play Rusty’s side-kicks Wendy Jo and Urleen.

Unfortunately, Bettles and Chaffee-Standish also have no romantic chemistry. In comparison, the charming infatuation played by Visconti and Armanino is the real thing, and completely age appropriate. I am sure one reason the Mac went with performers over 18 to play the leads was because of the provocative sexuality expressed by Ariel, and Chaffee-Standish plays that aspect of her role way too maturely. Real teens behave that way all the time, but adults don’t like to pay money to watch them. The good news is that teens are also capable of the kind of sweet and innocent affection embodied by Rusty and Willard’s romance.

What the real teens don’t do as well as Bettles and Chaffee-Standish, is dance, and this is where fans of the Mac-Haydn’s summer season will be disappointed. The places where the summer company would dazzle you with their terpsichorean talents, these kids are obvious beginners and choreographer Adolpho Blaire has scaled the moves to their level. That’s okay, they’re kids and this is their chance to learn, but the first association most Mac patrons would make between the words “Footloose” and “Mac-Haydn” would be “fabulous dancing” and that high mark isn’t attained.

But where the teens shine is in the energy and dedication they bring to their work, which is absolutely charming and completely refreshing in comparison to the 20-somethings’ packaged smiles.

The best thing on the stage in this production is 20-year-old Visconti as Rusty. She is a natural redheaded beauty with tremendous charm and real talent. I understand she took the Grand Prize in the “Columbia County’s Got Talent” competition at the Columbia County Fair this past Labor Day weekend singing Let’s Hear It for the Boy, which is her big Act II solo here, and I can’t say I’m surprised. She has appeared at the Mac before, notably in the title role of Annie, and if the company has any brains they will snap her up for a season or two before she makes it really big. She is a winner!

Armanino is young and physically small for the role of Willard, who is obviously supposed to be more brawn than brains, but he warms to the part and ends up being a lovable sidekick for Bettles and a dance partner for Visconti. Yes, Armanino CAN dance, and it is fun to see him cut loose when Willard gets the knack. He is also a strong singer, who will not doubt only get stronger as his adult voice settles in.

Peal and Ruddle are also impressive singers, harmonizing nicely on Holding Out for a Hero and Somebody’s Eyes. It is nice to see Peal, whose work I have enjoyed in Orphan Train and The Philadelphia Story this past season at NYSTI, spreading her wings and taking advantage of a variety of theatre learning experiences.

Adam Harrison solos nicely on the Act II opener Still Rockin’ as Cowboy Bob.

Ryan Michael Owens, another professional hold-over from the summer season, is appropriately scary as Chuck, the possessive and abusive ex-con Ariel has gotten herself mixed up with. If he had been paired with a younger woman, or if Chaffee-Standish was able to play the conflicted emotions of a young woman who isn’t quite sure she is ready for that walk on the wild side, some real drama might have ensued. Quinn Balli and Darrin French have fun as his slimy little toadies. French, who has grown up on the Mac-Haydn stage in child roles like Louis in The King and I and Colin in The Secret Garden, has been a member of the company all summer, and seemed to be having a ball honing his dancing skills and tackling minor roles.

Saunders is solid and likeable as Rev. Moore. If the other adult performers were stronger – Dudenbostel and Rizzo are particularly lackluster – their storylines, obviously beefed up for this stage version, would be more compelling. Also if Bettles and Chaffee-Standish were capable of playing anything put pretty, genial people, Saunders would have more to play off of.

Director Monica M. Wemitt has done her best to bring this disparate group of performers together into a cohesive whole, and she has failed, but she has managed to stage some winning moments, and to get particularly lively performances out of the young boys in the cast – a group that can be bashful and grumpy if not handled correctly.

Corrine Walsh is credited with the costume design and Kevin Gleason with the set, but it is obvious that both include leftovers from earlier in the season, and the costumes also include bits and pieces from the kids’ own closets since the Mac’s costume collect was built for adult performers. Everything looks fine though, and those are some REALLY spiffy red suede cowboy boots that Ariel is sporting!

Andrew Gmoser’s lighting design is lively, and the instrumental music, supervised by Jeffrey Funaro and Josh Smith, sounded better than usual.

If you know a young person in this cast, or if you enjoy supporting youth theatre and catching young stars on the rise, I would encourage you to go see Footloose. There is a lot to like about it. Take some elementary- and junior-high-school-aged kids with you, if you have some handy, and get them inspired to try out for next year’s show.

The MHT II production of Footloose at the Mac-Haydn Theatre performs September 11 to 13 and 18 to 20, with performances on Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 2 and 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. the show runs two and a half hours with one intermission and is suitable for the whole family. Tickets are $20.00 for adults, $12.00 for ages 18 and under. MasterCard and Visa accepted. No cancellations or refunds. Fully Air Conditioned. Call 518-392-9292 for information and reservations, visit www.machaydntheatre.org

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