Closing Night for Some Footloose Seniors

Metuchen Footlighters’ production of Footloose was really fun! Awesome job, everyone! Click here and turn the sound up for a really fun slide show! Technical note: the beginning of the audio is soft but it gets louder later on, so be prepared to turn UP the sound in the beginning, and DOWN when the music starts.

I had never seen that show before. Ren, a city boy, has to move to a small town in Texas.

The pastor of the small town, and his family. The pastor’s daughter is a complex character fighting her good angels.

The pastor did a great job making his character seem real.

Members of the congregation.

Ariel, the pastor’s daughter, after taking off “for ice cream” with her friends.

Ariel and her boyfriend. I think it’s safe to say the pastor isn’t crazy about the boyfriend.

The pastor isn’t crazy about Ariel’s red boots either.

But Ariel is smarter than she lets on, and a little bit insane too, screaming her deepest thoughts into an on-coming train.

Ren, the city kid, just wants to dance. Dancing is illegal in his new small town. Ren’s out to change that.

Ariel’s friend (played by my good friend, Samantha Cook), has a crush on Willard. The comic relief of these two characters was hilarious!

Two of Ariel’s friends have a crush on Ren. The actors did a great job with comedic timing. Loved this part of the show!

I love that the musical had so many players.

She played the part of the pastor’s wife. She has an amazingly clear singing voice, and I thought her character was so much better than the pastor’s wife character (played by Dianne Weist) in the Footloose movie.

I really didn’t know what to expect when some characters came out on stage wearing skates. If that had been me, I’d have ended up with a broken arm for sure.

I love this picture. The actor who played Ariel did a great job!

The dancers were fabulous too! That beautiful smile lights up the whole stage!

I’m always sad when the spring musical is over, but so hopeful for the graduating seniors.

That was a cute scene.

Love the expression on the actor’s face.

That character got a huge laugh.

Pastor is not liking those hot boots.

Here’s a shout out to the stage crew! You guys do such a fabulous job!

During intermission, I went backstage to check out what was going on. Check this out! Backstage, the entire cast and crew is participating in a rhythm circle. So fun!

Rhythm circles are a great way to boost confidence. (Probably scares freshman to death the first time they get into one though.) Love this!

We’ll miss you, seniors!

I really never would have imagined that the cast would be spending their entire intermission singing and making music. I always thought they were back there changing costumes and cooling off and resting.

Can’t wait to see what musicals the Footlighters take on next year. But the Cooks, who normally invite me to come take pictures, are all graduating. So if anybody wants to adopt me for next year, CALL ME! I love shooting the closing night.

The Cowboy Band did an excellent job too.

The kids got a taste of dancing at a hangout in a neighboring town.

The entire cast works so hard to put the production together.

Great job, guys!

Rockettes!

Ariel gave Ren citations of dancing in the Bible. I love that scene because it shows kids how you go about documenting your side of a debate.

So expressive and so much energy! That’s why I love the Footlighter productions so much!

I took this picture backstage before the play started.

The seniors were giving their speeches.

Tears were flowing, and laughter and applause too.

Everyone did a great job.

Congratulations to all the seniors!

Fabulous!

See the slide show for more pictures.

We’ll miss you!

I’ve known Sammie since she was about 5 years old. Can’t believe she’s graduating from high school. Sammie — you did an excellent job! We love you!

She had the whole room in tears about a minute before show time. Gulp.

Congratulations to the entire cast and crew!

And now some bows…

Thank you for a great night!

And to the band — again, awesome job!

After the curtain was drawn, I ran backstage to see what was going on behind the curtain. Lots of hugging and tears. Oh Sammie — I love this picture. Good luck to you, my sweet girl.

This picture is reminiscent of the picture that started it all. I had come to the Footlighter’s production of Guys and Dolls a couple of years ago when both Sammie and her brother Wally, had leading roles. At the end of that performance, I captured a very sweet image of Wally and Sammie hugging on stage just as the lights were going totally dark. The one above was lucky like that too. I had seen Sammie in the hall with friends, and I saw Wally making his way down the hall and I figured he was on his way to find his little sister, so I kind of stalked for a minute to see if there’d be a hug, and a hug there was, the circle completed! Love you both!

Congratulations again to the entire cast, crew and directors. The arts program in our school district really does a great job.

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