Carlisle High School is staging a production of Footloose this weekend, bringing the 1984 film's story of a small town's ban on dancing to the local stage with performances Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14, at 7 p.m., followed by matinees Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 14 and 15, at 2 p.m. The PG-13 musical draws roughly 60 to 70 students between its cast and crew, putting a sizable chunk of the high school's student body into the spotlight.
The story follows Ren McCormick, played by Parker Haitz, as he moves with his mother from Chicago to a small farming town, according to a synopsis on the ticketing page from Leap. There, he discovers a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, Rev. Shaw Moore, whose son died in a car accident following a school dance, as the Indianola Independent Advocate reports. Ren sets out to overturn the ban, with help from the minister's daughter, Ariel, played by Sarah Sinclair.
Sinclair described the production as fun while also exploring loss and moving forward, the paper notes. That theme carries extra weight in Carlisle, where the community has lost at least three students and recent alumni in recent years, per the same report.
A Cast Learning Roles Big and Small
Behind the scenes, musical director Lexie Theissen and assistant director Simon Wolfe have managed casting, matching performers' vocal ranges and gender to the roles available, the outlet's report states. Among the standout parts, junior Malaki Bailey plays Chuck Cranston, described as Ariel's jealous and abusive boyfriend, while freshman Finn Wheeler takes on the role of Willard, Ren's best friend.
Wheeler said he believes people should stand up against injustice, a sentiment that echoes the musical's central message, according to the Independent Advocate. The show, the paper notes, conveys themes of equality and the idea that everyone's voice deserves to be heard.
Familiar Songs, Familiar Story
The stage musical includes the songs Footloose, Let's Hear It for the Boy, and Almost Paradise: Love Theme From Footloose, carrying over some of the most recognizable numbers from the original 1984 film, which was later remade in 2011. During rehearsal, students Reilly Arnold, Kaylee Janes and Marcella Krambeck performed a featured song-and-dance number, while the broader cast rehearsed a scene in which young people ask town leaders to make dancing legal again, per the same account.
Photos accompanying the original report were credited to Mark Davitt. For Carlisle High School students, the production offers both a chance to perform a beloved story and, for some, a way to process real loss within their own community through the lens of a decades-old tale about grief, rules and the push to be heard.
