{"id":1318455,"date":"2020-02-27T16:38:52","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T23:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994089"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:38:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T23:38:52","slug":"gshs-production-of-footloose-is-all-about-having-fun-and-cutting-loose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/gshs-production-of-footloose-is-all-about-having-fun-and-cutting-loose\/","title":{"rendered":"GSHS production of \u2018Footloose\u2019 is all about having fun and cutting loose"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Scenes from the Footloose dress rehearsal at Glenwood Springs High School. The show opens Friday night, Feb. 28.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em>
<\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n
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Scenes from the Footloose dress rehearsal at Glenwood Springs High School.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em>
<\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

If there were one word to describe the 1980s, \u201cupbeat\u201d might be one of them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Glenwood Springs High School stage director Kate McRaith was after when she and her team selected the stage adaptation of the classic 1984 movie, \u201cFootloose,\u201d for this year\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

With a cast of 50 high school students, McRaith was also looking for something high-energy that would appeal to the young cast, and with which the likely audience could relate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just seemed like a really fun one to do, with some great music that most of the people are going to know,\u201d McRaith said.<\/p>\n

The GSHS production of Footloose opens at 7 p.m. (doors at 6:30) Friday night in the school\u2019s Jeannie Miller Theatre, with shows again Saturday and next weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother thing I always try to do is find something I think is going to be fun and happy for the students, because life can be pretty rough and super stressful at times,\u201d McRaith said. \u201cAt the end of a long day at school, the last thing you want to do is something terribly serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, there are some powerful social themes in Footloose about dealing with pain, the healing process and bringing people of different beliefs together.<\/p>\n

Footloose tells the story of teenager Ren McCormack who moves from Chicago to a small western town where dancing is prohibited, until he convinces the townsfolk otherwise.<\/p>\n

GSHS junior Johnathan Webster plays the part of Ren, which he said is ideal, given his own \u201980s alter-ego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a fan of the \u201980s aesthetic, so being able to put myself in that role, and being practically who I would be if I were a teenager in the \u201980s, is really fun,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n

Senior Molly Hancock plays Ren\u2019s mother, Ethel McCormack, who\u2019s hardly mentioned at all in the movie version of Footloose, but has a significant role in the stage production.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a strong, single mother,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cI really like this role, because she drives part of the storyline, even though she\u2019s not a major character.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s also really fun to play, because she\u2019s kind of fun and goofy, and not too serious, or too dramatic,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the way I like to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, junior Jenny Henry plays the part of Ariel Moore, the rebellious daughter of town preacher, the Rev. Shaw Moore, who falls in love with Ren.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t very familiar with the movie before, so it\u2019s been a really fun thing to learn all about the show and the role itself,\u201d Henry said. \u201cIt\u2019s also my first time having a lead part in high school. Ariel is really sassy and rebellious, so that\u2019s fun to do on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show is choreographed by Emily Ipsen, along with GSHS students Megan Quinn and Skylar McLaren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all really sweet, and really incredible choreographers,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThey\u2019ve given us some really cool movements to work with, and it\u2019s definitely been a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musical director for the production is GSHS choir director Shanti Gruber.<\/p>\n

McRaith noted that Footloose is also loosely based on a true story, about a small town in the northeastern United States where dancing was forbidden until the local high school class fought to have a prom dance.<\/p>\n

Aside from the stage case, the show includes a technical crew of about 20, handling sound, lights, makeup and stage sets.<\/p>\n

This is McRaith\u2019s 11th year directing the GSHS student musical, which is a tradition going back to the late Jeannie Miller for whom the school\u2019s theater is named.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scenes from the Footloose dress rehearsal at Glenwood Springs High School. The show opens Friday night, Feb. 28.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Buy Photo Scenes from the Footloose dress rehearsal at Glenwood Springs High School.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Buy Photo If there were one word to describe the 1980s, \u201cupbeat\u201d might be one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1318455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-29 05:15:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}