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(WASHINGTON)—The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces initial casting for the Broadway Center Stage production of Footloose, the explosive Broadway musical set to the rockin’ rhythm of the film’s Oscar® and Grammy®–nominated Top 40 score and
augmented with dynamic new Tony®–nominated songs for the stage musical. J. Quinton Johnson (Choir Boy, Hamilton, Broadway Center Stage: In the Heights) will lead the cast as Ren McCormack, a teenager who moves from Chicago to Bomont, Texas, alongside Isabelle McCalla (The Prom, Aladdin) as Ariel Moore, the Reverend’s rebellious daughter who joins Ren to change that town forever. The starry cast also features Michael Park (Dear Evan Hansen) as Reverend Shaw Moore and three-time Tony Award® nominee Rebecca Luker as Vi Moore (Mary Poppins, the Kennedy Center’s Little Dancer).
The musical’s original Broadway director, Tony Award® winner Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Bright Star), returns to helm this Broadway Center Stage production, featuring a revised book penned by Bobbie and Academy Award® winner Dean Pitchford, based on Pitchford’s screenplay for the hit film. Bobbie is joined by choreographer Spencer Liff (So You Think You Can Dance, Broadway Center Stage: Little Shop of Horrors) and music director Sonny Paladino (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812).
“The stage musical of Footloose made its pre-Broadway world premiere at the Kennedy Center in 1998, and I am thrilled to bring this show back to the place where it all started in this very exciting revised version,” said Jeffrey Finn, Vice President of Theater Producing and Programming.
Footloose features a score by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford with additional music by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, and Jim Steinman. The film’s soundtrack, which reached Number One on the Billboard charts, has sold more than 15 million copies and is packed with hits such as “Footloose,” “Let’s Hear it For the Boy,” “Almost Paradise,” and “Holding Out For a Hero.”
Completing the creative team are set and projection designer Paul Tate dePoo III (Broadway Center Stage: The Music Man, The Who’s Tommy), Tony Award®–nominated costume designer David Woolard (The Rocky Horror Show, The Who’s Tommy), lighting designer Cory Pattak (Broadway Center Stage: In the Heights, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man), and sound designer Jon Weston (An American in Paris, She Loves Me).
Presented as a part of Broadway Center Stage—a Kennedy Center–produced series of musicals in semi-staged concerts, conceived and executive produced by —Footloose will run October 9–14, 2019 in the Eisenhower Theater.
The Broadway Center Stage series, now in its third season, has become a hit with both critics and audiences alike with sold-out, star-studded performances of The Who’s Tommy, The Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, In the Heights, and Chess. Following Footloose, the 2019–20 season will continue with Tony Award® winner Rachel Bay Jones in the Pulitzer Prize–winning musical, Next to Normal, and the Tony Award®–winning Best Musical, Bye Bye Birdie.
Ticket Information Footloose will play the Eisenhower Theater October 9–12 at 8 p.m. and October 13–14 at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on October 12 and 13. Tickets for all performances are on sale through at the Kennedy Center box office, the website, or by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324.
Funding Credits
Theater at the Kennedy Center is made possible by Adrienne Arsht.
Major support for Musical Theater at the Kennedy Center is provided by the Drutz Family Fund for Musical Theater.
The Kennedy Center Theater Season is sponsored by Altria Group.
Additional support is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.
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PRESS CONTACT TICKETS & INFORMATION Brendan Padgett (202) 416-4600 (202) 416-8004 (800) 444-1324 [email protected] www.kennedy-center.org