This spring, the Coronado School of the Arts Musical Theatre Conservatory explodes onto the live stage in the 1980s-themed musical, Footloose. The production, based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, takes the stage at the Coronado Performing Arts Center for five shows, April 21-23, and April 28-29. The stage adaptation by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie features music from Kenny Loggins and Sammy Hagar.
“Footloose is such a great example of the power of music,” said Barbara Wolf, CoSA Musical Theatre Director. “It’s pretty impossible to hold still during these songs. The rhythms and melodies are infectious!”
The musical stars Randy Castillo as Ren McCormack, a big-city kid from Chicago who lands in a small town where dancing and rock music is banned. Ren pledges to circumvent the law and avoid Reverend Shaw Moore (Quinlan King) while plotting with his love interest, Ariel (the reverend’s daughter, played by Sydney Zuckerman) and his country buddy Willard (Luke Gomulka).
According to Wolf, Footloose embodies the exhilaration of youth and the importance of the forgiveness to heal. But the best part, of course, is the dancing. “The dancing is so much fun, and it’s so upbeat,” said Wolf. “The cast is also excited about it taking place in the 1980s.”
Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) is San Diego County’s premier public school arts conservatory, home to 200 scholar artists grades 9 through 12, who attend the nationally ranked Coronado High School. CoSA provides an intense, pre-professional arts education to students from Coronado and from all over San Diego, who are admitted after a competitive application/audition process.
Each school day CoSA offers three or more hours of instruction, pairing young artists with educators who are also industry specialists. With a curriculum designed by professional artist/educators, students are immersed in their chosen specialty in one of six conservatories: Classical and Contemporary Dance, Digital Arts (Animation, Filmmaking, Game Design, and Graphic Design), Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre & Drama, Theatre Production, Design & Management and Visual Art. CoSA is a State of California-approved Career Technical Education program.
Our award-winning student artists perform and exhibit at the Coronado Performing Arts Center on the Coronado High School campus, in either the 570 seat Main Stage or 80 seat Black Box theatre. Coronado Performing Arts Center is also available for rent to local organizations. About twenty five percent of the CoSA budget is raised each year by the CoSA Foundation. If you would like to see the arts continue to thrive in education, please consider making a donation at www.cosafoundation.org.
“Footloose is such a great example of the power of music,” said Barbara Wolf, CoSA Musical Theatre Director. “It’s pretty impossible to hold still during these songs. The rhythms and melodies are infectious!”
