{"id":245403,"date":"2012-09-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/cutting-loose-in-north-park\/"},"modified":"2012-09-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-28T07:00:00","slug":"cutting-loose-in-north-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/cutting-loose-in-north-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Cutting loose in North Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Diego Musical Theatre stages a sweet \u201cFootloose\u201d at the Birch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Cutting
Director Robert Marra (Courtesy SDMT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fourteen years after \u201cFootloose\u201d became a sweet 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, it became a sweet 1998 Broadway musical. The reviews were mixed but the musical hung on for nearly two years and more than 700 performances.<\/p>\n

When asked why the critics were so lukewarm, director and choreographer Robert Marra, who is currently staging the 1998 musical for San Diego Musical Theatre (SDMT) Sept. 28 through Oct. 14 at the Birch North Park Theatre, took a deep breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good question,\u201d Marra said. \u201cI think critics are always harsh, and anytime you take a pre-existing film or book and adapt it to a new musical or a Broadway play, the critics automatically are more sensitive to the issue of, \u2018Are they going to be able to make this work?\u2019 It\u2019s really hard when you have an iconic film like \u201cFootloose.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

The musical concerns teenagers trying to blow off steam in a small town where rock music is shunned and dancing is forbidden. The dancing ban is particularly difficult for character Ren McCormick, because he and his mother just moved to the area from Chicago. Because of the insular nature of small towns, Ren finds it hard to make friends. He promptly falls in love with the Baptist preacher\u2019s rebellious daughter, Ariel Moore, which does not endear him to Ariel\u2019s tough boyfriend, Chuck, nor to Chuck\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n

Though we don\u2019t learn it until later on, Rev. Shaw Moore has reasons for spearheading the town ordinance that forbids dancing. Because of Ren\u2019s growing reputation as a non-conformist, Rev. Moore forbids him from seeing Ariel. Serious issues are addressed but because this is a feel-good musical, a happy ending and a lot of dance numbers are in order.<\/p>\n

Marra, who staged SDMT\u2019s \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d last season, said he believes that many in the \u201cFootloose\u201d audience will come because they love the film. He expects that others will love the stage production, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get everything from the stage show that you get from the film,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re rooting for Ren, coming to a small town with his mother because his father left them. You invest emotionally in the characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a director, Marra is invested in his characters and his shows. \u201cYou have to fall in love with the show, and you also have to find the truth in it,\u201d he said. \u201cI always tell my actors this: every single thing that you do onstage \u2013 whether speaking a line, singing a note, dancing a step \u2013 has to have a purpose and you have to believe that your character would do it. The moment you don\u2019t believe it, you\u2019re just doing a dance step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marra started dancing in his early teens, but said he did not like being labeled as only a dancer, so he took up voice and acting. \u201cBack then,\u201d he said, \u201cif you were a triple threat, you were a hot commodity. To do everything and be a guy meant you worked a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marra, who relocated on the West Coast around 20 years ago, said that his Ren, actor Anton Fero, has it all. \u201cI didn\u2019t know him prior to auditions. He walked in and it was one of those moments when all my directorial flags went up.\u201d Fero, who danced in Lamb\u2019s Players\u2019 \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d and recently played five weeks in \u201cMixTape,\u201d does have the talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the whole package,\u201d Marra said. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge role that carries the show. There is no area where you go, \u2018Oh, well, I guess we\u2019ll sort of overlook that because he\u2019s giving us \u2018x\u2019 elsewhere.\u2019 He\u2019s charismatic; he\u2019s very much a guy, rough enough around the edges while still having the ability to be the male ing\u00e9nue. \u2026 You\u2019ve got to emote angst, hurt, love, anger and fear with your body. That\u2019s totally what Anton is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fero and his wife Courtney, a dancer who hails from East County, moved to San Diego about a year ago to start a family. His parents, as well as hers, live in San Diego. Courtney Fero recently portrayed Hope in Moonlight\u2019s \u201cAnything Goes,\u201d and takes the stage with her husband in the SDMT \u201cFootloose\u201d production.<\/p>\n

Emma Degerstedt, who recently starred as Elle Woods in Moonlight\u2019s \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d earlier this summer, portrays Ariel, opposite Anton Fero\u2019s Ren. Don LeMaster is musical director and conductor.<\/p>\n

Marra said he thinks \u201cFootloose\u201d is a marvelous adaptation of the 1984 film. \u201cDean Pitchford, who wrote the original movie \u2013 as well as a 2011 remake \u2013 approached the film as if he were writing a musical theater piece. When he adapted it to the stage, the songs easily fit in place because his dream came true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFootloose\u201d plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays through Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays starting Friday, Sept. 28. The show runs through Oct. 14 and tickets cost $26 to $52. Birch North Park Theatre is located at 2891 University Ave. For more information and tickets visit sdmt.org or call 858-560-5740.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Diego Musical Theatre stages a sweet \u201cFootloose\u201d at the Birch By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Reporter Fourteen years after \u201cFootloose\u201d became a sweet 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, it became a sweet 1998 Broadway musical. The reviews were mixed but the musical hung on for nearly two years and more than […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Cutting loose in North Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}