CEC students’ upcoming musical

Footloose musical helping students find themselves

TRURO — The young talents at Cobequid Educational Centre (CEC) are preparing for a show they believe will rock everyone's socks off.

From March 25 to April 1, students will be performing a classic that some folks may remember seeing at the high school many years ago — Footloose.

“It has been 20 years since we did it the last time, and it’s the 25th anniversary of the musical itself,” said director Sheena Henderson, who also played a production role in their original rendition.

The decision to return to Footloose wasn’t just out of nostalgia — it was also to get as many students as possible involved.

“Last year, we did a musical review,” said Henderson. “We didn’t do a regular musical. We did songs from a bunch of different musicals to celebrate 50 years of musicals here.

“Because we did that, we got to feature a lot of people. We wanted to continue that as much as we could this year, so we wanted to choose an ensemble show that could feature a lot of people.”

Footloose is certainly one of those shows. Henderson explained it contains plenty of solos, duets and trios, letting much of the cast shine in the spotlight.

“It’s not just a show that centers on a couple of characters and everyone else is background,” said Henderson. “There’s a lot more opportunity to feature people, which was our biggest concern this year.”

The story of Footloose is one of a youthful rebellion against parental and societal authority. In a small town where rock music and dancing are outlawed, a Chicago-raised teen named Ren tries to understand, and ultimately fight back against the anti-dancing proclamation.

Toni Katarzynska, also in Grade 11, plays the role of Ren’s mother in the musical. They spoke briefly about the themes of Footloose.

“I think the overlying theme of this show could be described as censorship. All the young people, they’re trying to live their lives, trying to do something that makes them happy, and they’re

being barred or stopped by these adults in their lives.”

Gilgamesh Mcnearney, a Grade 11 student, plays the role of Ren. He added

to Katarzynska’s statement.

“It’s about kids trying to grow up into who they want to be, and the adults being like, ‘we don’t want you to do that. We want you to be more like us.’”

Henderson said while some of the show’s politics are dated (specifically referring to gender roles), she intends to make the most out of the musical’s message of freedom and youthful liberation.

“We’re trying to play up the justice side of it as much as we can, more than we did 20 years ago,” said Henderson.

While only some of its social commentaries have lived on nearly 40 years after the release of the original film, its impact on youth remains just as great.

“This is an opportunity for people to come together for one common purpose,” said Henderson. “The variety of people is pretty vast.

“Even people in the ensemble start to feel like part of a really important group.”

For Katarzynska and Mcnearney, their experience with Footloose has not only been fun but has given them some direction on what they’d like to do after graduation.

“I’m definitely trying to see if I can go to Toronto or an equally big city with a lot of acting opportunities to pursue a career in the performing arts,” said Katarzynska. “Through doing this show, I just realized how much I love being part of a community like the theatre."

“For me personally, I want to do something in the arts, whether that be doing musicals, plays, making music, movies … if I could get a chance to be in that field, and really have a job and a community in that field, it’d be incredible,” said Mcnearney.

Katarzynska, having moved from Toronto to Truro two years ago, is impressed with the enthusiasm surrounding theatre and voiced their appreciation.

“Somewhere like Truro is great for that, as well,” added Katarzynska. “We’ve got things like the community theatres, Hubtown Theatre … something like that where you’re able to do community theatre in your free time, or you’re able to find that community even if you’ve got another career path.

“I think that’s what's great about Truro, that has so much involvement with the arts despite its size.”

Tickets for CEC’S production of Footloose can be purchased from Macquarries Pharmasave on Esplanade St. in Truro, or online at ticketpro.ca.