On Friday, March 29, Staff Writer Sofie Huang attended the opening of Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s production of Footloose, which runs March 29 and 30 at Roone Auditorium.

The Columbia Musical Theatre Society returned to the Roone Auditorium this weekend with a production of Footloose. The musical, directed and produced by Shania Pahuja (BC’24), is based on the 1984 movie of the same name about a teenager, Ren McCormack (Rayan Ali, CC’27), from Chicago moving to a town named Bomont, where dancing is illegal. Throughout the musical, Ren falls in love with the local minister’s daughter, Ariel Moore (Mykhel Duckett, BC’27), and advocates for the end of the dancing ban.

The cast did a beautiful job portraying what is otherwise a simple hero’s journey and brought the musical the charm it needed to push the narrative forward amusingly and entertainingly. Ali and Duckett play a convincing young couple looking to heal each other’s wounds and find comfort in one another. Their duet, Almost Paradise, showcases the compatibility and strength of their voices. Ariel Moore’s parents, Reverend Shaw, played by Thomas Doyle (GS’24), and Vi Moore, played by Olivia Katz (CC’25), deliver outstanding performances as a couple broken from grief after the death of their son a couple years before. Doyle truly brings the character to life, and the audience can see and feel his emotional turmoil and stress caused by his daughter. Katz’s outstanding performance in Can You Find It in Your Heart? is especially emotionally compelling and garnered a couple of tears. The final confrontation between Reverend Shaw and Ren feels real and emotionally charged, courtesy of Ali and Doyle.

A fan favorite was Lucas Lugones (SEAS ’25) as Willard Hewitt, guaranteed to make the audience laugh with his strong loyalty to his mother and willingness to fight anyone he could. Lugones’ Mama Says charmed the audience, garnering smiles and laughter. The trio of Ariel’s friends, Rusty played by Ava Markhovsky (BC ’25), Wendy Jo played by Ana Huesa (CC ’26), and Urleen played by Estella Moster(BC ’27), sang a warning song Somebody’s Eyes, which was particularly amusing. Their fun culminates in Holding Out for a Hero when Ariel complains about finding a good guy and they perform Bonnie Tyler’s song from the original 1984 Footloose movie. Other performances, like Chuck Cranston played by Maxwell Seelig (CC ’26), Principal Clark played by Carrie Crespino (BC ’26), and Coach Dunbar played by Sylvie Oldeman (BC’25) were solid and tied the story together.

The set designed by Althea Cohen in Roone Auditorium was quite simple with a large platform in the center with a couple of rotating props. The use of curtains that hung from the platform was interesting and gave the audience just enough context to understand the setting, though not particularly impressive. The tables in a particular scene at the diner where the ensemble cast could pretend to chat while the main characters were conversing were amusing and a nice touch. The one dining room table signaling the home of the Reverend was simple but effective. The lighting, done by Maxwell Epstein (SEAS ’27), gave strobing lights, but enough for it to be effective and not a headache. Much of the lightning indicated the setting, but in rare instances displayed the characters’ feelings. There was some minor use of flashlights to fit some songs, which were fun and changed the lighting up creatively. The choreography co-designed by director Shania Pahuja and Daisy Burckin (BC ’26) consisted often of partner dances with a few fun large group twists, like kicklines, tap dancing in a circle in Mama Says, and the use of jump ropes in another scene. The costuming done by Pahuja, Charlotte Hart (BC’26), and Abigail Fixel (BC’26) was well done and consistent. The cowboy aesthetics and consistency allowed the characters to be easily recognizable while staying on the theme and believable in the setting.

One damper on the production was issues with the microphones, which often made it hard to hear the actors on stage. The microphones constantly changed volume and at the beginning of the musical, it was nearly impossible to hear the actors’ voices over the pit. This issue often made it difficult to follow the story and had me wishing there were subtitles, though this may have been an issue with the venue. There were also some lapses in the large group choreographies, where some cast members seemed to get lost or were unsure of their marks, but this did not take away from the overall experience.

Overall, a cast of strong actors and actresses delivering powerful vocal performances as well as strong set design, lighting, and choreography, breathed life, humor, grief, and forgiveness into Footloose. The two-hour-and-a-half performance including intermission was a worthy use of anyone’s time on a valuable Friday evening.

Footloose Cast via Glenn Romano

Performance Photos Courtesy of Glenn Romano