Footloose

From the exuberantly cheesy 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, to its more recent success on Broadway and in London’s West End, Footloose seems destined for perpetual revival on the community theater circuit. There’s something so lovably cornball about the story (stage script by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie)—and then there’s all that breathless dancing (the songs are by Pitchford and others, including Kenny Loggins, who is solely responsible for the fatally infectious title tune). Circle Players are the most recent local troupe to revisit the tale of teenager Ren McCormack, who relocates from Chicago to a small town where dancing is forbidden by the local preacher. The cast of nearly 30 includes Deonte Warren as Ren and Ed Amatrudo as the Rev. Moore. The choreography is by Kate-Adams Johnson. For theatergoers further out in the countryside—or for Footloose junkies who want to comparison-shop—the Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury also presents the show through July 27.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: July 25. Continues through Aug. 10, 2008