From movie to stage, Footloose makes it premiere at Arrowhead High School.
Three days after they preformed for the 8th graders on the 15th, the Broadway Company performs the musical Footloose October 19th to October 25th, doing a double show on Saturday. Footloose is a musical about a group of teens who bring back dancing to their town, convincing the town reverend how dancing is an expression of passion.
Grace Ohm, a senior doing Broadway since sophomore year, said this about the premiere, “I thought the premiere went pretty good. It was real helpful because the 8th graders were enthusiastic.”
Arrowhead’s new choir teacher Ms. Grace Bielski is directing Broadway Company as they perform Footloose. Directing musicals at other schools for over three years, she finds joy with Arrowhead’s Broadway.
“Its fun,” she said as she talked about directing Footloose, “but it takes a lot of work. I love how the kids cheer each other on. I also love how the seniors provide great leadership to others.”
The show did encounter problems as they were in production.
“There are always some troubles,” Ms. Bielski said, “one of the biggest problems we encountered was when our lead (Andrew, Brookfield East) got the Chicken Pox. We had others take his part during rehearsals until he recovered.”
The students also seem to be having fun with Footloose. Lauren, a senior and member of Broadway, said, “It’s different with Ms. B. Rehearsals are less hectic, but I am happy with the outcome.”
The result of the show was admired by the audience. Senior Erin was amazed with the show. “The music and dancing was incredible,” she said amongst her friends. “It was super energetic, it was music that we knew, and it looked like they were having fun. I especially loved the song ‘Holding Out For a Hero.’”
Liz Stein, another senior and former member of Stage Crew, also enjoyed the show. “I loved the set as well as the set changes. It was really sweet.”