The Coronado School of the Arts Musical Theatre and Drama department has been tirelessly rehearsing for their spring musical “Footloose” and was excited to perform the show for the Coronado community, as it opened on Friday, April 26 at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. CoSA’s Barbara Wolf is directing the production and the choreography was done by Gina Sorensen and Viviana Peji, CoSA senior.
The set was crafted by the skilled hands of CoSA Technical Theater. The tech students used many different pieces to create the appearance of a midwestern town, church, diner, and more. All the pieces move in dynamic ways during all the dance numbers so it’s obvious how hard CoSA MTD and Technical Theater department worked on their craft.
The leading man is CoSA junior, Randy Castillo. He shared, “My main challenges are managing my time and retaining all the things that I have to learn quickly. Also just having a lot of fear of performing and not being good enough, but I try to get past it and just get out there and perform and do what I do.” Being the leading man and balancing school work is a tough task, but CoSA gives students a place to express themselves and grow as artists, while nurturing their talent.
The musical’s songs were very energetic. It is clear that the students are enjoying themselves on stage during the numbers. Castillo commented, “My favorite part of this production has been all the dancing. Of course with the show being ‘Footloose’ there’s lots of great dancing but it’s all so fun and creative. I also love the dynamics of every character and how people play the roles in the show because I feel like it all flows so well.”
The many dance numbers, set to great nostalgic music, create an atmosphere of high and fun spirits within the audience. There was no shortness of applause after songs like “Holding Out For A Hero” and “I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man).” The dance performances displayed spot-on synchronization during the entire two and a half hour performance, which is a sign of the time and effort spent in rehearsals.
“Footloose” opened this past weekend with three shows, and two more shows are scheduled for April 28 and 29 at 7pm. As an audience member, you’re in for an evening that will surely leave you ready to dance and singing the well-known songs.
