Act One
“Footloose”............................................................Ren, Company
“On Any Sunday”...........................................Rev. Shaw, Company
“The Girl Gets Around”.................................Chuck, Ariel, Company
“I Can’t Stand Still”...............................................................Ren
“Somebody’s Eyes”....................Rusty, Urleen, Wendy Jo, Company
“Learning to be Silent”.......................................Vi, Ethel, and Ariel

“Holding Out for a Hero” ................... Ariel, Rusty, Wendy Jo, Urleen

“Heaven Help Me”.........................................................Rev. Shaw
“I’m Free/Heaven Help Me”......................Ren, Rev. Shaw, Company

Intermission

Act Two
“Still Rockin”........................................Cowboy Bob & The Bobettes
“Let’s Hear It for the Boy”.......................................Rusty, Company
“Can You Find it in Your Heart”....................................................Vi
“Mama Says”...............................................Willard, Ren, Company
“Almost Paradise”...........................................................Ren, Ariel
“Dancing Is Not A Crime”.........................................................Ren
“Heaven Help Me (Reprise)”............................................Rev. Shaw
“Can You Find it in Your Heart? (Reprise)”.........................Rev. Shaw
“Footloose (Finale)”........................................................Company

“Megamix”....................................................................Company

There is a moment in Footloose when Ren asks a question that feels almost painfully simple: Why? Why can’t we dance? It is a question that has lived at the center of this production for me from the very beginning.

Because, of course, Footloose isn’t really about dancing. It is about what happens when fear becomes policy. When grief becomes control. When a community becomes so frightened of losing the people it loves that it begins restricting the very things that make those people feel alive. And that story feels incredibly immediate to me.

We have intentionally placed our Bomont in a world that looks and feels like ours. This is not a town full of villains. It is a town full of people who are grieving, loving, protecting, questioning, rebelling, and desperately trying to figure out how to live alongside one another. They simply do not agree about what safety looks like. For some, safety means rules. For others, safety means the freedom to be fully seen.

And somewhere between those two ideas, a generation of young people is asking for ownership of their own bodies, their own identities, their own joy, and their own futures.

That is where our Footloose lives.

Throughout this process, we have talked a lot about freedom in the body. About the communities throughout history who have used music, movement, gathering, and dance not simply as entertainment, but as survival. As resistance. As celebration. As a way of saying: I am here. This body belongs to me. And I deserve to experience joy inside of it.

So in our Bomont, dancing means something. It means community. It means desire. It means self-invention and chosen family and visibility. It means taking up space. It means joy without permission.

And perhaps most importantly, Ren does not arrive in Bomont to save it. The desire for change is already here. Ariel knows it. Rusty knows it. Willard knows it. Vi knows it. Even Shaw, somewhere underneath all that grief, knows it. Ren simply asks the question out loud. Why? And once someone asks that question, it becomes very difficult to stop asking it.

Building this production with these extraordinary young artists has reminded me again and again that theatre is at its best when it does exactly that. Not when it tells us what to think, but when it gives us a room in which we can ask questions together. When we can look at the rules we have inherited and decide which ones still serve us. When we can hold grief and joy at the same time. When we can disagree and still remain in community.

And then—when words are no longer enough—maybe we dance.

Thank you for joining us in Bomont. Now kick off your Sunday shoes!

Kate Lumpkin, Director

Conductor, Keyboard 1......................................Jim Clemens
Bass.............................................................Gabi Bieberich
Clarinet, Saxophones..................Emerson Garmendia-Arevalo
Drums..............................................................Kaleb Ellett
Guitar 1..................................................Benjamin Brantley
Guitar 2......................................................Sam Saint Ours
Keyboard 2.....................................................Daniel Curtis
Percussion.................................................Tommy Crossley

Production Manager............................................James Ogden
Technical Director...........................................Brian Smallwood
Lighting & Projections Supervisor..................Catherine Holcomb
Scene Shop Supervisor......................................Shaun Bartlow
Costume Shop Manager..........................................Jill Parzych
Sound Shop Manager........................................Simon Marland
Intimacy Consultant.............................................Kate Arecchi
Rehearsal Accompanist.........................................Jim Clemens
Head Electrician.................................Stevie Schaffer-Massingill
Assistant Director..................................................Claire Sauls
Associate Choreographer........................................Ella Walters
Production Publicist..................................................Vie Dukes
Associate Lighting Designer.............................Abby Greenstreet
Head Draper........................................................Jenny McNee
Costume Shop........................................Assistant Becca Stehle
Assistant Props Designer................................Sadie Watterworth
Assistant Stage Managers............Autumn Hall, Jackson Howland,
Alex Pollard, Sarah Snellings
Musical Theatre Social Media Manager.........................Vie Dukes
STAD Publicity and Media.......................Noormina Abu Alhomos

Costume Shop Employees

Moira Benabaye, Kayden Peddicord, Grace Drasin, Hunter Olsen, Jacob Wunderler,
Lily Pinchbeck

Costume Shop Practicum

Mia Augenstein, Annabelle Bozarth, Sophia Brandan, Brenna Duffy, Vesa Fhankham, Julia Fret, Gavin Greygor, Madison Hill, Carissa Ma, Katie Moorer, Tara Moran, Timothy Roeting, Olivia See, Gabby Simek, Kaylee Stieren, Ava Taylor, Chloe Tsihlis, Rebekah Turner, Daniel Wright, Drew Wright

Lighting Shop Employees

Joey Besant, Kal Collins, Vesa Fhankham, Abby Greenstreet, Jarius Hines, Manuel Mejias, Agori Padgett, Katie Ross, Shohan Thapa

OCTOBER

The Cory Band Oct. 28

Angela Brown Oct. 22

NOVEMBER

Contemporary Music Festival Nov. 1

*Catapult: Magic Shadows Nov. 10

Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra Nov. 13

Dancescapes Nov. 6-8

*Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Nov. 13-15

Women of the World Nov. 19

DECEMBER

Macbeth Dec. 3-6

Simone Dinnerstein Solo Dialogues Dec. 5

*HolidayFest: Magic and Memories Dec. 12-13

JANUARY

PHILADANCO! Jan. 22

FEBRUARY

The Magic Flute Feb. 5-7

Cellogayageum Feb. 10

Different Ships, Same Boat Feb. 20

Galatea, or Whatever You Be Feb. 10-14

*Anastasia: The Musical Feb. 26-Mar. 7

MARCH

Danú Mar. 7 *Captan Nemo’s Adventure Academy! 20,000 Laughs Under the Sea Mar. 12

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Mar. 26

APRIL

New Voices in Dance Apr. 2-4

The Friendly City & Opera Scenes Apr. 8

Camerata RCO Apr. 7

The Hot Sardines Apr. 17

JMU Symphony Honors Concert Apr. 25

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Apr. 22-25

TAIKOPROJECT Apr. 26

For tickets and further information, visit www.jmuforbescenter.com or call the Forbes Center Box Office at (540) 568-7000.

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