About Footloose
One of the most explosive movie musicals in recent memory now bursts onto the live stage. When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, Ren is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. What he isn't prepared for are the rigorous local laws, including a ban on dancing. The ban is the brainchild of a preacher determined to exercise the control over the town youth that he cannot command in his own home. When the reverend's rebellious daughter sets her cap for Ren, her roughneck boy friend tries to sabotage Ren's reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. To the rockin' rhythm of its Oscar-nominated top 40 score (the soundtrack album reached number one on the Billboard charts and has sold over 15 million copies!) to which new, dynamic songs have been added, FOOTLOOSE celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people, guiding them with a warm heart and an open mind.

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Who are we seeking?
Strong Singers who have a rock/pop vocal style and can move well.
Strong Dancers and Acrobats who can sing well.
Actors sing and move well to play “adult “characters

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Character Breakdown

Ariel Moore: Reverend Moore’s daughter.
Ren McCormack: A teenager from Chicago who loves to dance.
Rev. Shaw Moore: The powerful and traditional local minister.
Chuck Cranston: The local bad boy and Ariel’s boyfriend.
Ethel McCormack: Ren’s mother.
Rusty: Willard’s friend who has a crush on him.
Vi Moore: Reverend Shaw’s wife.
Willard Hewitt: The kind country yokel who can’t dance.
Urleen: Ariel’s friend.
Wendy Jo: Ariel’s friend.
Betty Blast: Owner of the Burger Blast. (A real character on rollerskates.)
Coach Roger Dunbar: High school coach and friend of the Moore’s.
Eleanor Dunbar: Wife of the coach.
Principal Clark: Principal of the high school.
Cowboy Bob: Lead vocalist at the Bar-B-Que café.
Cop: Male.

Chorus: The ensemble will include an adult church choir, parents, teenagers, a few children and some minor speaking roles for both teen and adult characters. The total cast will number around 50. (Teenage chorus must dance. Adult character dance some)

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About the Auditions
All students between the ages of 14 and 22 are eligible to audition. Please note that although no experience is required this is a highly competitive program designed to give serious students an opportunity to advance their skills and talents. Acceptance into the program is based on talent, preparation, maturity and ability. There are also a limited number of scholarships are available made possible by the Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation, The Evelyn and Howard Boroughs Education Endowment and the Larkin Brooks Education Fund.

Auditions will be held in Camarillo. The exact location is TBD.

Please select from either the dance or singer auditions.
You do not need to attend both but are welcome to do so if you feel it will increase your chances of being accepted. ALL participates in consideration for a part will be asked to sing and dance at the callback.

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Make an Appointment
All preliminary auditions are held by appointment. Once your appointment is made you will receive a confirmation via email. Casting will be complete by May 12.

Request an Audition Appointment

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What to Prepare for the Auditions

Singers:
Please prepare one contemporary pop/rock ballad or up-tempo similar to the music in the show. Be sure that you have sheet music in the key you are going to be performing it in. Taped and or CD accompaniment without vocals will be accepted. An accompanist will be provided for you.

Dancers:
All Dancers should come warmed up and ready to move. Please be prepared to learn a short routine and perform it for the audition panel. We are looking for strong dancers with high-energy and a grasp of hip-hop style dance. Acrobatics are a plus.

Leading Roles:
If you are interested in a role it is strongly recommended that you sing a song from the selected material below. Sheet Music for these songs will be made available online soon.

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Callbacks
Location: Camarillo (Exact Location, TBD)

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Other Important Dates and Information

Please note that all rehearsals and performances will take place in the city of Camarillo. Our exact location will be announced soon. The performance schedule may be subject to change.

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Musical Numbers

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Synopsis

Act 1
Chicago. Any workday of any week. Young people unwind at their favorite dance club where, tonight, they say goodbye to Ren McCormack. Because Ren's father deserted him and his mother, they are being forced to move in with her sister's family in some small town nobody has ever heard of, Bomont, where the spiritual life of the community is carefully monitored by the powerful local minister Reverend Shaw Moore.

Ren quickly finds himself at odds with the repressive, stifling atmosphere in Bomont. The only person seemingly unfazed by Reverend Moore's iron-fisted control is his own daughter Ariel. She runs around with the local bad boy Chuck Cranston, who is sure that he's got the preacher's daughter all figured out.

At school, Ren discovers an unlikely friend in Willard Hewitt, somewhat the country yokel, who is unnerved by Ren's restless energy.

When Ren is stunned to discover that "no dancing of any kind is allowed at any time anywhere within the town limits of Bomont", Ariel's best friends - Rusty, Urleen and Wendy Jo - pull him aside to explain that this law dates back five years to a car accident that claimed the lives of four Bomont teenagers. In the flood of grief and guilt that followed that tragedy, the Rev. Moore managed to convince the Town Council to ban dancing. The girls warn Ren the climate of fear and suspicion that pervades Bomont is all part of small-town living and, in his first months in town, he discovers just how right they are. When Reverend Moore's wife Vi tries to ease ongoing tensions between her daughter and her husband, Shaw refuses to discuss the unpleasantness. Vi gets unexpected support from Ren's mum Ethel, who empathises with Vi's frustration at having to bite her tongue and bide her time.

At the local diner, Ariel's girlfriends bemoan the lack of exciting boys in their lives, and Ariel gets them to join in her fantasy about finding "a guy who amazes me." When Chuck storms in and becomes abusive with Ariel, Ren leaps to her defence. In appreciation Ariel lets Ren in on her private ritual - running through the fields of Bomont, yelling after the trains that will one day, she vows, carry her for away from here. Ren and Ariel find it surprisingly easy to talk but, after Ren walks Ariel home, Shaw demands that she never see Ren again, leading to even further strain within the family. On his way home that same night, Ren is beaten up by a jealous Chuck and his cronies, Travis and Lyle, and the next day, in gym class, when his injuries don't get any sympathy from his coach, Ren's anger and exasperation explode; he vows to "take on this town" and incites a revolution by his classmates: "We're going to throw a dance!" His campaign immediately catches the attention of Reverend Moore and sets the stage for even more conflict to come.

ACT 2
Ren drives Ariel, Rusty and Willard a hundred miles outside of Bomont to a western dance hall where Irene and the Country Kickers keep things moving.

There, Willard confesses to Ren that he can't dance; the news devastates Rusty. So, while the Cowboys give Willard his first lesson, Rusty explains to the Cowgirls just what it is she finds appealing about this guy with two left feet.

When Ariel arrives home, her defiance provokes Show, and he stops just short of slapping his daughter. Shaw refuses to acknowledge to Vi that his treatment of Ariel has grown severe since the death of their son, who, as it turns out, was one of the four teens killed in that fateful car accident. Vi pleads her daughter's case, but Shaw, as usual, walks away from their confrontation.

Meanwhile, Willard and his friends Bickle, Garvin, and Jeter try to prepare Ren for his upcoming confrontation with the Town Council where he'll challenge the local ordinance which buns dancing. When Ren gets discouraged and threatens to abandon the entire campaign, Willard focuses Ren's efforts with the somewhat loopy wisdom that Willard's mother is known for.

Ariel arrives, angry and bruised after c fight wit Chuck Cranston "I think we just broke up," she announces. She leads Ren to her private hideaway, a trestle below the railroad tracks above the river in which her brother Bobby drowned. There, high above the world's problems, they are surprised to discover that their friendship bus turned to love.

At the long-awaited Town Council meeting, Ren makes his case by quoting passages from a Bible which Ariel hod marked for him.

When Ren's motion is defected, he is devastated. Ethel convinces him that Shaw Moore had "fixed" the vote, and she urges him to go speak to the minister. "Otherwise," she warns, "you'll never make peace with this town."

Ren finds Shaw in church, and admits to the Reverend that, perhaps, his campaign for a dance hod less to do with throwing a party and more to do with finding a renewed sense of purpose in the aftermath of his father's departure. When he turns the discussion to Shaw's son Bobby, though, the Reverend loses his temper and throws Ren out.

Only then does Shaw realise how much the pain of Bobby's death has overshadowed his life - and the lives of everyone in Bomont - and, after a struggle with his conscience, he announces to his parishioners that he has hod a change of heart; that, in fact, a dance might be a good idea.

After church, Shaw's new found peace of mind allows him to reaffirm his love for Vi. And so, for the first time in years, the young people of Bomont are able to dress up and "tear up this town"; and when Reverend Moore enters with Vi and all the other adults in town, the evening finally becomes, not only a celebration, but also an ecstatic expression of healing.

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Awards

• Four 1999 Tony Award Nominations
• One 1999 Grammy Award Nomination, Best Original Cast Recording
• Two 1985 Academy Award Nominations for Best Song ("Footloose," "Let's Hear It For The Boy")
• Two 1985 Grammy Award Nominations, including Best Soundtrack Album

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Critic's Quotes...

• "A celebration of youthful independence . . . Genuine artistry and innovation . . .terrific tunes."
  — Variety
  
  
• "A crackling show . . .better than the movie!"
  — Green Bay Press- Gazette
  
  
• "This is a show you want to dance to! The score is the best kind of blast from the past!"
  — Cincinnati Enquirer
  
  
• "FOOTLOOSE is an exuberant entertainment, bursting to life with music, romance and dance."
  — L.A. Movie Gazette
  
  
• "One of the most extraordinary musicals ever to come out of Hollywood. FOOTLOOSE blends fantastical situations with important issues and balances them perfectly."
  — L.A. Weekly

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In Their Own Words...

Dean Pitchford - Box Office Mojo

After FAME, I was being approached by all these folks [in Hollywood] because, by that time, I was also writing pop material for Melissa Manchester, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry.

I was approached about writing films: about a girl who's going to be a pop artist or a girl who wants to go to Broadway or a guy who wants to go on the road and I thought, 'well, those are really kind of dull.' One way to make it more interesting is to forbid it, to outlaw it.

That was in the back of my head and I had read this story in the news in 1979 about a small town in Oklahoma—Elmore City—that banned dancing. The law had been on the books for 90 some odd years and that year, the high school class, which numbered about 11 kids, wanted to have a dance and the town elders decided they had a problem with that. They got very dogmatic about it, though no one could remember why they had instituted that interdiction, and they dug their heels in. A fight ensued and families split. People took sides and neighbors weren't talking to neighbors and the minister there put his foot down [and dancing was banned].

I kept thinking, because my background was Broadway, where no one really calls themselves a songwriter unless you do a score in a show, I always felt like a bit of a pretender; I had a song on this television show, in that movie, on that album, so I wanted to put a bunch of songs in a movie. And the only way I could make that work is if I know what the movie is, so I had better sit down and write a movie.

They said nobody would believe [it]—unless it happened in 1964. But in 1964, not being able to dance would not be remarkable. But in 1980, it would be. That's what makes it. It's often thought of as that movie about the town where you can't dance. But really, the dance is the mechanics to explore another theme which is underlying everything: a boy who's lost his father meets a man who has lost his son and the two clash. The dancing is the thing that they fight over but they're both angry about the thing that they're not saying and it becomes the focus. It's about expression—when they dance, they're able to express themselves. But it is a story about loss and people's attempts to deal with loss and whether banning a book or dancing there's a rallying point into which people bury their rage.

FOOTLOOSE went through 22 drafts and, in that period of time, the Moral Majority was rising in power and there was the Ayatollah [Khomeini] in Iran. We are seeing it now with the rise of the far right, the neoconservatives and a White House in the grip of the far religious right. I was certainly aware of [religious fundamentalism] but, when I began [FOOTLOOSE], I was writing [primarily] from my belief that people who don't express themselves hurt.

In the case of FOOTLOOSE, it was always driven forward from the script [which Pitchford wrote]. We knew exactly where songs were going to go. As I mapped it out, we had to trim, just because we knew what budget we had so we had to spend our pennies wisely. In every case, I had to ask: what's the rhythm of the song, what kind of artist is singing the song? Is it black? Is it pop? Is it rock-n-roll? Is it dance? That brought into play a whole list of artists and, in some cases, their collaborators. For instance, we had this idea to go to Bonnie Tyler to sing "Holding Out for a Hero" and she was only working with [composer] Jim Steinman.

There's different kind of energy that's necessary when [music's] coming at you from the screen as against radio speakers and, with Jim [Steinman], who has that sense of theatricality, I didn't have to do too much prodding. He knew I wanted this to be big. I did walk into my meeting with Jim with the full lyric [to "Holding Out for a Hero"]. I had studied a lot of his work and he's very clever and wordy and he keeps the momentum going—like in "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights"—so I wrote a Jim Steinman lyric. Also, we rented an upright piano and rolled it into Herb Ross' office. Instead of running off and working in the studio before we got the thumbs up from Herbert, we would go in and sing the songs at the piano or on guitar and he would say 'yeah, that's the right direction' and then we would demo it to show the artist. With "Holding Out for a Hero," we brought a girlfriend of mine who's a singer and we went into Herbert Ross' office and Jim Steinman, with the long, long hair, sat there at the keyboard and played the full orchestra part of the song and when he finished, there was blood on the keyboard. He played the s—t out of that song. Afterwards, Herbert Ross said: Do it—that's the song.

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