The Mythical southwestern town of Bomont has a problem. But the local teenagers don't seem to realize it. The laconic, backwater community banned dancing five and a half years ago as the result of the deaths of four teenagers in an auto accident.

The local high school students have come to accept the ban and find ways to amuse themselves at a burger joint - The Burger Blast, and at a local junkyard. The acceptance of the dancing ban changes with the arrival of a young man named Ren McCormack who moved to Bomont, from Chicago, with his mother. Ren's interaction with the other students, his quest for acceptance and his struggle to get the dancing ban lifted is the heart of "Footloose. How he gets there is the best part of the story and the cast and crew of the Northfield Middle and High School production help him reach his goals in a very upbeat and highly entertaining way.

Once the overture was done and the players started on stage, the audience needed seatbelts to stay in their very comfortable seats.

The opening number, "footloose" was highly energetic and very well performed by the entire cast and literally "set the stage" for the entire play.

Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News Willard(Zach Ward) tells Rusty(Mary Ada DeFelice) that he doesn't know how to dance in "Footloose" the play performed as this year's spring musical by the Northfield Middle & High School Players. Young love won out, however, and Willard learned how to dance. The cast stayed on stage after their opening dance routine and turned their backs to the audience, still moving rhythmically to the music as Ren tells his Chicago friends where he will be going and then has a conversation with his mother about the move. When the scene ends the players in the cast then move the props (seating for church) into position. This type of maneuver was repeated many times throughout the play in various scenes and was performed seamlessly (as were all the changes in the play).

Ren was played by Jeff Parry, who brought an extreme level of enthusiasm and talent to the part. His acting, singing and dancing were all at the very highest levels. His high level of energy set the level for everyone in the performance.

Ren's love interest is Ariel, a preacher's daughter who was played by Molly Clark. Molly was terrific in the role, making the audience take notice no matter what she was doing on the stage - singing, speaking or dancing. Ariel is a very complex character who knows just how to behave no matter where she is. Ariel is one person at home and a seemingly different person with her friends or with her boyfriend, the town's "bad boy" Chuck Cranston (played in a very convincing manner by Gordon Wobby) or letting Ren in on her deepest secrets. Molly Clark brought that complexity home to the audience. She was very convincing. She was Ariel.

Molly's father, Rev. Moore (Extremely well played by Sean Fricke) is a tormented middle age man who lost his son in the accident and is the main reason that dancing has been banned in Bomont. The collision course of Ren & Rev. Moore held the audience spellbound for the entire play.

The major supporting players added a great deal to the performance.

Sarah Skinner played Ren's mother Ethel McCormack, a struggling single parent, in a very convincing manner, and Willie Weggler's portrayal of Rev. Moore's wife, Vi Moore, a woman trying to aid her husband and at the same time understand their daughter Ariel, was very well done.

Zach Ward played Willard Hewitt, a lovable oaf, to perfection. In any other play the part of Willard would be a starring role because he covers two different storylines and offers a great deal of comic relief. The first storyline is how he and Ren become friends after a rocky start, and the second is how he deals with budding but seemingly unknown (at least to him) romance with Ariel's best friend, Rusty.

The part of Rusty was played by Mary Ada DeFelice with an unbelievable degree of skill. While seemingly an airhead, Rusty has an uncanny knack of getting what she wants. Rusty and Willard just might be accused of stealing the show. All these threads and the talent of the performers playing the roles and those supporting them made for a highly enjoyable evening's e ntertainment.

The singing and dancing was very well done. There were nearly twenty numbers and most required dancing. Not only the principles sang and danced -EVERYBODY sang and danced.

It is impossible to say which dance routine was most impressive, but several days after the fact this reporter still readily remembers Cowboy Bob's (Jake Indorf) dance hall routine with Rusty. The performance of Willard & Ren and their "gang" (Brendan Ryan, Danny Rowe, Jake Indorf, Nathan Budgor, and Will Martin) in the junkyard singing and dancing "Mama Says" was highly memorable.

Ariel and her 'gang' (Grace Hatch, Keli McLellan, Morgan Lamorey, Keri Gigure, Mary Ada DeFelice, and Emily Hagen) with lots of "extras, singing and performing a dance routine to "I Need A Hero" in the burger joint made the house rock. "Lets Hear It For The Boy", done by Rusty and a large backup group was arguably the most entertaining number in the show.

Especially when Willard's attempt to learn to dance was occurring at the same time.

The songs in "Footloose" all flow from the actor's spoken performance into the songs, and that technique worked well to keep things flowing smoothly throughout the play. It wasn't just the songs and dancing that flowed smoothly. The technical side went off without a hitch, too. The sound, lighting , props, and sets all flowed as well as the music. The hand painted backdrop for the play was a beautifully colored impressionistic scene of the small town viewed from afar through a train trestle and added a new dimension to several of the scenes when different lighting schemes fell upon the backdrop..

As people were leaving the auditorium, comments such as: " What talent!", or I can't believe they did that", or "Just think of the discipline they had to have to do that." could be heard. Those comments were all well deserved.

What a job!

Give all the cast and the stage crew led by Stage Manager Taylor Raftrey, the musicians and the technicians an A-plus. A tip of the cap, two thumbs up. And for Mary Corrigan,the director, and Loraine Monmaney,the choreographer, a job well done!