Footloose first burst onto the silver screen in 1984 and proved to be one of that year’s most successful motion pictures. The soundtrack recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and went on to sell over 17 million copies worldwide, generating such Top 40 hits as the title song, Let’s Hear It For The Boy, (both of which received Academy Award nominations), Almost Paradise, Holding Out For A Hero, and I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man). With a screenplay and lyrics by Oscar winner Dean Pitchford, the story focuses on young people, as does his previous, wildly successful movie musical, Fame.
Its journey to the Broadway stage began in 1996 when director Walter Bobbie collaborated on a stage adaptation with Dean. After Tom Snow and Dean added new songs to supplement the already existing hits, Walter directed the first of a series of workshops. Work on Footloose was temporarily suspended, however, so that Walter could open his acclaimed revival of Chicago on Broadway (for which he'd go on to win the 1997 Tony Award), a success that he repeated in London.
Footloose finally previewed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in summer of 1998, and opened on Broadway on Oct. 22. The next day, the show broke the box office record for the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it continued to thrill audiences well into July 2000. During the course of its New York run, Footloose also enjoyed successful national and bus-and-truck tours.
In 2011, Paramount Pictures' remake of Footloose-with a screenplay by Dean Pitchford and the film's director Craig Brewer-brought this heartwarming story and electrifying music to a whole new generation.
Mount Carmel School's Theatre Club's will stage its production of Footloose on Thursday, Jan. 24, and Friday, Jan. 25, at 7pm each night at Fiesta Resort and Spa's Hibiscus Hall. Admission is $5. Production of Footloose is presented through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals, www.rnh.com. (R&H Theatricals)
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