Performance staged by B’ville Theatre Guild through Aug. 4
By Russ Tarby
Contributing Writer
When the cast of Baldwinsville Theatre Guild’s “Footloose” play the six degrees of separation game, they can claim close contact with Kevin Bacon. The movie star — who rose to fame after his leading role in the 1984 film “Footloose” — tweeted them a “break a leg” message just before they opened the show July 27 at the Presbyterian Education Center.
In this “Footloose” — BTG’s annual Summer Youth Production — Caleb Butchko stars as Ren, a fatherless teen from Chicago who becomes the new kid at rural Bomont High where dancing is banned. Butchko makes a good leading man. He’s handsome, charming and has a confident stage presence.
His adversary in the story is the Rev. Shaw Moore, expertly acted by Cameron Brown, who brings the proper gravitas to the role as well as an above-average singing voice on numbers such as “Heaven Help Me.”
Ren’s romantic interest, Ariel, Shaw’s daughter, is portrayed by Vanessa Vacanti, who makes an early transformation from a pious churchgoer with tightly braided hair to a rebellious hussy with an unruly coif and red cowboy boots.
Vacanti is the real deal, a young performer who can do it all — sing, dance and act — all with power and passion. Her standout song is “Holding Out for a Hero,” but she also turns in impressive duets with Butchko’s Ren, songs like “Almost Paradise.”
The show’s top tune is a rousing rendition of “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” vocalized in Act 2 by Maddie Butchko as Rusty. With wavy auburn hair and an awesome voice, Maddie leads the company in a lively line dance as Rusty celebrates a budding relationship with the awkward but lovable Willard Hewitt, played by Matthew Oldenburg.
With a rubbery face and a sneaky smile, Oldenburg draws laughs with Willard’s repeated inability to count or spell, and along the way he has the audience rooting for him to get the girl. His featured number, “Mama Says,” brings some comic relief to the proceedings while the community argues over its prohibition of dancing.
Other precocious performances are turned in by Karlin Twiss as Ren’s mom, Carter Gallo as bad boy Chuck Cranston, Donovan Anderson as Cowboy Bob, deep-voiced Andrew Bornnheimer as Coach Dunbar and Jenny Blake who wheels across the stage on roller skates as Betty, the boss at the local burger joint.
Kaycie Romano specializes in ballads as Shaw’s wife, Vi, sings “Learning to be Silent” along with Twiss and Vacanti in Act 1, and she slowly inquires “Can You Find It on Your Heart?” in Act 2.
Director Ceara Windhausen — who also helmed last summer’s “The Wiz” for BTG — somehow managed to keep this massive cast of more than 40 performers on their toes throughout. Windhausen selflessly credits music director Nick Godzak for his work leading the seven-piece pit band to accompany the onstage singers and dancers. The arrangements often showcase the talents of woodwind musician Julie Coggiola.
Windhausen’s choreography keeps the dance routines simple enough so that this largely inexperienced cast could accomplish them yet spirited enough to keep them pleasing to the audience’s eyes. The ensemble often moves as much with their arms and hands as with their legs and feet.
Regardless, this energetic cast ably characterize the show’s carefree title — “Footloose” indeed. And fancy free!
“Footloose, adapted by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie with music by Tom Snow, continues at the First Presbyterian Education Center, 64 Oswego St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 2, 3 and 4. Tickets cost $22, and $18 for students and seniors; baldwinsvilletheatreguild.org; (315) 877-8465.
