Michael T. Mondak speaks about performing in Footloose 20 years later Part II

In my last entry, I talked about the basic storyline for the Footloose movie and the people I worked with in a stage production of the musical Footloose in 2004 at Robert Morris University.

Before I begin retelling some of the stories from our production, I want to reveal the storyline of the musical.  Note that the names in parenthesis are of the folks who portrayed those characters in our musical production and the titles in brackets are the musical numbers.

Ren McCormack (Michael J. Mainier) is at a nightclub in Chicago after putting in eight hours at work on a Friday.  Sadly, it is his last visit to that club as his father has abandoned him and his mother Ethel (Tansy Fortner).  They are relocating to the small town of Bomont, ten hours away [Footloose].  Upon their arrival in Bomont, they attend the local church where Reverend Shaw Moore (Lenny Labriola) preaches of the dangers of sex, drugs and rock music, much to the chagrin of his wife Vi (Heather Lazzini) and daughter Ariel (Emily DeWald) [On Any Sunday].

Ren and Ethel move in with her sister and brother in law Lulu (Melony Murray) and Wes Warnicker (Dave Budziszewski), where Ren is set to get ready for school the next day thanks to Eleanor Dunbar (Ann Mattis) and her husband coach Roger Dunbar (John Locke).  Ariel and her best friend Rusty Pizzolo (Lindsey Wright) join Urleen Fitzgerald (Dana Hanzlik) and Wendy Jo Reed (Caitlin Varley) at the Burger Blast, but Ariel runs off to find her boyfriend Chuck Cranston (Nathan Oakes) in a dark alley where his cronies Lyle Thompson (Dominic DeNardis) and Travis Troyer (Douglas Beasock) ask him what Ariel gets out of their relationship, and Chuck explains all of it [The Girl Gets Around].  Soon, Reverend Shaw walks in on them.

At school the next morning, Ren and Ariel formally meet for the first time.  He then bumps into Willard Hewitt (Greg Heid), a hayseed in a hat with a bad attitude and an affection for his mama.  Ren shows him some dance moves he learned in Chicago [I Can't Stand Still], but is reminded that dancing is forbidden by law by Principal Harry Clark (Dr. Rex L. Crawley).  Rusty, Urleen and Wendy Jo tell him about how the law came about after four teenagers died on the way home from a dance in neighboring Baylor County, which Reverend Moore (whose son was one of the four victims) blamed on sex, drugs, liquor and dancing that led to the law being passed.  Ren is told to be careful what he does because there are others watching [Somebody's Eyes].  In the process, Ren gets a speeding ticket from Sheriff Jim Deakin (Michael T. Mondak), is suspended from the wrestling team, and is fired from his job at the local hardware store.

Ariel returns home where she sees her father working on an outline of his next sermon.  Shaw and Vi argue over Ariel's relationship with Chuck Cranston, which Vi compares to her own prior relationship with Elliot Criswell.  Vi and Ethel then later lament about how nobody listens to each other and their need to learn how to bite their tongues and bide their time [Learning to be Silent].

The next night, Ariel and her friends have dinner at the Burger Blast, where Ren has just been hired.  After taking their orders, Willard warns him that Chuck will not be happy if he saw Ren flirting with Ariel.  Ariel claims he was only teasing Ren.  Ren then questions Willard about his relationship with Rusty, to which Willard replies that she doesn't know what she even talks about.  Ariel, Urleen, Rusty and Wendy Jo lament about their hopes of finding a suitable guy [Holding Out for a Hero].  Chuck then storms in, angry with Ariel about missing a date with him.  Ren steps in to defend Ariel, and as Willard looks to instigate a fight, Betty Blast (Summer Leigh York), the proprietor of the Burger Blast, steps in to break up the scuffle.

Ariel then takes Ren to a railyard where she reveals that her father wants her to be an English literature teacher in Baylor County.  She offers Ren the chance to kiss her, but he declines for a later time.  He walks her home, much to the chagrin of Chuck.

At the Reverend's house, Eleanor wins two dollars from both Principal Clark and Reverend Shaw in a game of cutthroat bridge.  Ariel returns home to which she hears incorrect assumptions that she was upstairs in her bedroom doing her homework.  The group leaves, and Ren eventually departs afterwards.  Shaw forbids Ariel from seeing Ren again because of his lack for authority.  Ariel rebels that she is a prisoner in the house.  Shaw then complains about how he became a preacher [Heaven Help Me].

At school the next day, Ren shows up late for gym class after being injured in a scuffle with Chuck, Travis and Lyle.  Ren bails out the kids after coach Dunbar departs for his office while they do push ups.  After Bickle (Robert Dubs Jr.) thanks Ren, Ren apologizes over the town being so wound up, to which Jeter Stevens (Bethany Gallagher) agrees.  Garvin Lewis (Gary Ashley) agrees with the point that with the exception of the local bowling alley, there is no place for the kids to relax.  When Willard suggests taking coach Dunbar dancing, Ren has an Aha moment and then hatches the idea to hold a dance.  Although the other kids say he is out of his mind, Ren is determined to take on Reverend Shaw and the entire town council, which wins the kids over.  When Reverend Shaw receives word of this development, he reminds the churchgoers that the law against dancing about more than dancing and is determined to stop Ren and the kids in his tracks, thus beginning a war between the senior class of Bomont High School and the church leaders [I'm Free/Heaven Helps the Man].

Act two begins with Ren, Ariel, Rusty and Willard driving 100 miles outside of Bomont to a country western nightclub where Irene and her Country Kickers (Deana Muro and the band) hold court, playing romantic music [Let's Make Believe We're in Love].  When Willard reveals to Ren that he can't dance, Cowboy Bob (DeNardis) and two other cowboys (Ashley and Dubs) ridicule him for it.  Ren comes to Willard's defense to no avail, but Rusty says that although he never has much to talk about, she still loves him.  In the meantime, Ren and Cowboy Bob teach Willard how to dance, to Rusty's amazement [Let's Hear it For the Boy].

Meanwhile, back at the Moore house, Chuck is unsuccessful in his quest to find Ariel.  Vi tells him that Ariel went to Wendy Jo's house for a study session, but Chuck hears that she left hours before.  Reverend Shaw dismisses Chuck, and argues with Vi about how Ariel has lied to her.  Ariel returns home, and Shaw attempts to reprimand her, but Vi restrains him.  She reminds Shaw that he has been putting impossible demands on Ariel since Bobby's death and suggests they become a family once again [Can You Find it in Your Heart?].

Ren rehearses his planned speech to the town council in front of Willard, Garvin, Bickle and Jeter, but he receives criticism.  Willard explains that he is attempting to win over Reverend Shaw and the town council over the abolishment of the dancing ban, to which people have been mad over, taking the side of the town council.  Ren attempts to give up, but Willard encourages him to keep up the fight with lessons that he learned from his mama [Mama Says].  Urleen rushes over to Ren, who learns that Ariel had been beaten up by Chuck and sustained a black eye.  Ariel wants to be left alone, but then Ren provides her some company.  Little do they know their friendship has turned into love [Almost Paradise].

At the town council meeting, Ren makes the argument for the abolishment of the law banning public dancing, supported by many of the attendees, with several Bible references that are key to his case [Dancing Is Not a Crime].  Although Reverend Shaw is moved to a degree, the motion is defeated 4-0 with one abstention.

Ethel convinces Ren to speak with Reverend Shaw to make him reconsider or else he would never make peace with the town of Bomont, claiming that the voting was fixed.  Ren then goes to Reverend Shaw and explains that neither he can bring his father back nor Shaw bring back his son Bobby.  Shaw ejects him from the sanctuary after the conversation turns to Ariel, then laments about how he misses his son so much and that something must be done.  At the next service, Shaw announces that he will in fact, allow the senior class to hold a dance and asks for prayers for the guidance and the protection of the kids [I Confess].

After the service, Willard invites Rusty, which she accepts.  Vi is proud of Shaw and Shaw professes his love for Vi [Can You Find it in Your Heart? - reprise].  The kids, and all of the townspeople of Bomont, join in the town's first dance in five years [Footloose - Finale].

The stories from our production of Footloose in 2004 will come in the next entry.