Last August, I picked up free tickets to a show at the Barter Theatre through a silent auction for Sullivan County Imagination Library. Russ is not a huge live theater fan, whereas I could go every week and love it. Still, I thought that something might come along that he would enjoy.
Fast forward to the end of May. I need to use those tickets by August. My friend Kandy and I see the upcoming schedule for Barter and lo, and behold, Footloose is coming in June! Who doesn’t love Footloose, right? (Well, Russ, for one. Which meant that I had free tickets for Kandy and me to go and enjoy reveling in the magic of the 80s!) We posted on Facebook and another sweet friend from high school, Marci, decided to join us. A true Girls’ Day Out, as we saw the Saturday matinee.
Just as the play was about to begin, I made a confession to Marci – something that Kandy already knows about me and swears she’s going to rectify at some point. “I’ve never seen the movie Footloose.”
“What?!? How is that possible??? You, of all people!”
And it’s true. I don’t know how I’ve managed to never sit down and watch it all the way through, but here I am, fifty-one years old and I’ve never seen the whole movie. I know the soundtrack really well. My sister Sarah is even named after part of the Footloose legacy. I loved the song “Let’s Hear It For the Boy” by Deniece Williams. The movie and soundtrack were popular when my Mom was pregnant with my little sister. Mom’s last name was Williams. She told me that I could choose the baby’s middle name. Her first name was going to be Sarah. I smiled. I had the perfect name. Deniece. Sarah Deniece Williams. Mom went for the name, not knowing the significance, but balked at the spelling. So she’s just a regular “Denise.” Which was still okay – because I know in my heart how it should be spelled, lol! And, because of this, of course, Sarah hates the song “Let’s Hear It For the Boy.” Go figure…
So, was the play anything like the movie? I have no idea. Did I enjoy it? Yes. I thought all of the actors did a great job, especially the lead actress and the woman who played her mom, the preacher’s wife. Did I get caught up in it all and feel like I was back in the 80s? Of course, I did. I think all three of us did. The rest of the audience seemed to, as well. Do I still think it’s a weird premise for a movie, play, or otherwise? I’ll admit that I do. But I also admit that I can get lost in just about any premise of anything that takes me back to the 80s. So, yeah, it was a terrific time spent with friends I’ve loved dearly for over 35 years and counting. “Everybody cut, everybody cut/ Everybody cut, everybody cut/ Everybody cut, everybody cut/Everybody cut Footloose!” [Side note: We learned at the taping of Jimmy Kimmel that we went to in LA in early March, while Kevin Bacon was being interviewed, that, as a teenager, he was actually in a band called Footloose. How crazy is that?!!?]
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