McLean Community Players to Present FOOTLOOSE

The McLean Community Players' production of Footloose, the high-energy rock musical based on the movie of the same name, opens Friday, July 8, 2016, and runs weekends through July 24 at McLean's Alden Theatre. Footloose was adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. The music is by Tom Snow with additional music by Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar, and Jim Steinman and lyrics by Dean Pitchford. Footloose opened on Broadway in 1998 and ran for more than 700 performances. The score features such pop-rock hits as "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy." It was nominated for four Tony Awards. Director/Choreographer Shaun Moe leads an award-winning cast and crew for MCP's production of this explosive musical.

Footloose tells the story of Ren, a high school student who is forced to move with his mother from Chicago to Bomont, a small farming town, after his father abandons them. Ren expects to have the usual problems in adjusting to a new school, but he does not expect the repressive atmosphere of Bomont, where a powerful minister has persuaded the town council to ban dancing and rock music. Ren becomes friends with the minister's daughter, and together they plan a campaign for talking the town council into dropping the ban.

Director Shaun Moe says, "Footloose is an exciting show that makes some of us hearken back to the 1980s. I wanted to direct and choreograph Footloose because it is just so much fun to work on. It has the traditional conventions of American teenage rebellion, young love, comic relief and high-energy songs and dances. It's the sort of show that leaves you singing as you head to the exits. Beyond the more popular songs, are some gems of musical theater, such as "Mama Says," which brings down the house. At its core, it's a show about Rev. Shaw Moore and his battle with heartache, an authentic yearning to protect his flock, and how he comes to terms with letting go of the past. Despite being a screen-to-stage adaptation, the characters have a depth that isn't present in many other such shows, and the challenge of this show is to be able to balance the high-energy dancing and fun with the seriousness that needs to be given to the conflicts of Rev. Moore inside and outside of himself and his own home."

The Mclean Community Players are proud to announce that they are offering performances with accessibility for both the hearing impaired and the visually challenged. For Footloose, audio description for the visually-impaired will be offered by the Metropolitan Washington Ear at the matinee performance on July 17. The final Saturday performance on July 23 will be sign-language interpreted by First Chair Interpreted Productions, LLC. See the Accessibility page at www.McLeanPlayers.org for more information.

Footloose opens Friday, July 8, 2016, and runs weekends through July 24. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. at the Alden Theatre in the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, VA 22101.Tickets are $23-$25 and are available at McLean Players.org or through OvationTix at 866-811-4111. Footloose is presented through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals: www.rnh.com

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