(Some of the cast members of "Footloose")
Directed by Themi Venturas, the 14th annual
PANSA Young Performers Production for this year is Footloose which comes to the UKZN Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from July
1 to 13, 2014.
Footloose tells the story of a tenacious and rebellious city teenager, Ren
(played by Rendani Mufamadi), who moves to a small town where rock music and
dancing have been banned by the conservative Rev Shaw Moore (played by Bradley
Marshall) and the town council. Ren leads the young people of the town,
including Rev Moore’s rebellious daughter Ariel, in a protest against the
town’s banning of the annual dance.
The stage adaptation of Footloose is by Dean Pitchford and
Walter Bobbie based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford with music by
Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford and additional music by Eric Carmen,
Sammy Hagar, Kenny Logins and Jim Steinman.
Footloose has had two incarnations as feature film. In 1984, a youthful Kevin
Bacon was Ren playing against John Lithgow’s Rev Shaw Moore. Also in the cast were
Lori Singer, Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Wiest. The film was remade in 2011
and featured Kenny Wormald as Ren and Dennis Quaid as the Reverend. Also in the
remake were Julianne Hough and Andie MacDowell.
Footloose,
the musical,
was adapted for the stage from the film, and premiered in 1998 and became a
Broadway and West End hit. It has been staged successfully globally since then.
Footloose boasts some now-iconic
musical numbers: the theme song, Footloose,
which became a hit for Kenny Loggins; Holding
out for a Hero, which was recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler for the
first film; and Let’s Hear it for the Boy
which became a number one song for singer Denise Williams. Other songs from the
musical include On Any Sunday; The Girl
Gets Around, Somebody’s Eyes, Heaven Help me and Learning to be Silent.
The 2014 Young Performers Project sees
Themi Venturas at the helm once more in a production which re-unites him with
Daisy Spencer (choreographer) and Des Govender (vocal coach) who worked together
on former YPP productions, Hairspray
and Legally Blonde. Joining
them for the first time as Musical Director is Luke Holder who successfully
collaborated with Venturas in the acclaimed production of Man of La Mancha at the Catalina Theatre and the National Arts
Festival.
Spearheaded by PANSA (the Performing Arts
Network of South Africa: KZN), the project ensures that the learners get a
taste of working in the professional musical theatre arena. The cast of 40 were
chosen at auditions in April. Rehearsals are underway with the cast meeting
every weekend until the opening night. The project promotes discipline,
develops confidence, and gives an opportunity to make life-long friendships,
and to learn a huge amount from the professionals.
PANSA is grateful to the Department of Arts
and Culture of the Province of KZN who have agreed to support the project for
the next three years. Other sponsors include RCL Foods (Rainbow Chicken);
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA); Black Coffee for technical support and
the UKZN Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
Previous YPP projects have been: Curtain Up; One Voice; Grease; Oliver;
Fiddler on the Roof; The Wiz; Annie; School of Rock, SA; Big River; Hairspray;
Seussical; Legally Blonde and last year’s Can You Feel It?
Footloose runs at the UKZN Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from July 1 to 13 with
low-price previews on June 27 at 19h30; June 28 at 14h30 and 19h30pm, and June
29 at 14h00.
Early booking is recommended through
Computicket outlets at Shoprite Checkers, on 0861 915 8000 or at www.computicket.com For block bookings of
10 or more, sold performances, and fundraisers / charity bookings through Ailsa
Windsor of Going Places on 083 250 2690 or editor.goingplacessa@gmail.com
Posts
