Over the course of two weekends in March, Burlingame Drama rocked the stage with six spectacular performances of “Footloose,” this year’s annual spring musical.
Footloose features the journey of an enthusiastic teenager named Ren McCormack, who discovers the hardships of moving to a new town where rock music and dancing are banned by the main antagonist, Reverend Shaw Moore. The show was directed by Cindy Skelton and the performances were run by senior and stage manager Georgia Birchall.
During Footloose’s debut performance on March 15, the cast, crew and orchestra alike clearly showed well-practiced fluidity and prominent talent both on and beneath the stage. For the cast, opening night was full of nervous energy and high enthusiasm.
“I think we definitely had the most energy on opening night because it was the first show and we were all nervous,” said senior Lara Ryzhikova, who played Ethel McCormack in the musical. “It actually went really well because the energy [level] was high and the audience was super energetic.”
Footloose’s impressive choreography and songs also produced audience favorites, including “I’m Free / Heaven Help Me / On a Sunday,” “Holding Out for a Hero,” “Learning to Be Silent,” “Mama Says” and, of course, “Footloose.”
Although most songs were full of energy, a few of the more emotional songs drew tears from the audience and spotlighted the voices of the cast. For instance, Ryzhikova’s duet “Learning to Be Silent” with sophomore Gina Saccuman (Rev. Moore’s wife Vi) displayed the phenomenal vocal abilities of both actresses.
“The meaning of the song is actually very beautiful,” Ryzhikova said. “I just really love that piece because it was one of the sadder pieces [and] everything else is just super high energy. This was the only song that was just kind of mellow and calm. Everyone [got] to take a breath.”
Although Footloose was Ryzhikova’s first time onstage, her incredible vocal range developed from four years in choir earned her a spot as a lead character in the musical.
During the dance and music numbers, freshman and ensemble member Lucy Kendall essentially got the ultimate front-row seats to the show.
“Anytime [the dancers] got out there they were just perfect,” Kendall said. “They could [do so many] spins, flips and turns.”
From the audience, the crew’s hard work was impossible to miss. The set pieces onstage were all masterfully crafted and painted, and the backstage crew seamlessly transitioned the stage from one scene to the next.
“The costumes were pretty good and the set pieces were painted so well,” Kendall said. “It made the [set] look more realistic, like I can picture people being there.”
Likewise, the costume and makeup crew did a stellar job at transforming high school students into the characters they played onstage.
“It was crazy to be in the whole makeup, [hair] and the costume,” Ryzhikova said. “I really felt like a mom and so many of my friends were like, ‘Lara, you look like a mom.’ It was so interesting to be a completely different person on stage.”
In contrast to the cast and crew, music director Kyoko Yamamoto spent countless hours in the pit below the stage conducting a team of musicians to perform live music for Footloose.
“[Music and dance] are a critical part of the musical, and I have to make sure that it has to be energetic enough for everyone to dance to,” Yamamoto said. “[If] it’s too slow, it doesn’t go with the dancers, but if it’s too fast, the dialogue [becomes difficult]. The timing is really important.”
Although Yamamoto wasn’t performing onstage, she still managed to get her steps in — literally. During one of Footloose’s performances, Yamamoto’s Apple Watch estimated that directing the music for two hours in the pit helped her burn the calorie equivalent of 20,000 steps.
Yamamoto and the orchestra crew had to overcome hurdles even before rehearsals officially started. Between having to combine two different Footloose sheet music books and managing the rehearsals of the pit orchestra, Yamamoto’s work was certainly cut out for her.
“[I had to] listen to everybody’s needs and requests and then kind of make it work,” Yamamoto said. “Trying to incorporate everything that’s going on in one [cohesive] music group was very challenging.”
Oftentimes, unfortunately, the second night of a show is the low point of the entire performance. Coming off the high of the opening night, the members of Footloose encountered bumps during their second performance, but they were quick to overcome them and adapt.
“[On] the first night we had really high energy, [so before] the second night we felt like we already got the hang of it,” Ryzhikova said. “But I messed up some of my lines, and it didn’t go as smoothly as it went the first night. After that, we figured out our weak spots and practiced, so [the rest] was fine.”
Throughout the remaining shows, the cast, crew, and orchestra steadily improved and stepped up the pace for the final few performances.
“The storyline is amazing,” Yamamoto said. “The dancing is [also] amazing. So we felt like we needed to bring up our game to make the show better.”
Since the musical not only welcomes drama students but also choir and band students, newcomers found opportunities to join and bond with the group.
“We all just had such an amazing time, and we all became very close after [Footloose],” Ryzhikova said. “It was a very big part of my senior year, so I’m really glad I was able to experience it.”
