The 13th annual All-City Musical, featuring students from all over the Cleveland School District, takes place at PlayhouseSquare’s Ohio Theatre this weekend. Directed by Tony Sias and Kimberly Brown, in partnership with Great Lakes Theater, the students will be putting on a production of “Footloose,” the 1984 musical-drama film that launched lead actor Kevin Bacon’s career and earned actress Sarah Jessica Parker a Best Young Supporting Actress nomination at the Sixth Annual Youth in Film Awards.
For the All-City Musical show, Warren Franklin, a freshman at Cleveland’s Whitney Young High School, will portray the lead character Ren McCormack. Tony Sias, who is the director of arts education for the Cleveland School District as well as artistic director for the Cleveland School of the Arts, said of Franklin’s performance, “He came in completely off-book with every song in the show. He was adamant that that’s the role he wanted. And this young man is DOING the darn thing.”
Dachelle Porter, a junior at John Marshall High, is the female lead, and also garnered high praise from her directors.
Sias explained the reason for choosing “Footloose” as this year’s production, saying, “About 38 percent of our students change schools during the course of the year.” This parallels the storyline behind “Footloose,” which is about a young man whose family leaves Chicago for a small town where rock ‘n’ roll and dancing are banned. Another reason is that while Bacon’s original movie came out in 1984, a new version hit theaters last year, so potential audiences are familiar with it.
Catch the All-City Musical production of “Footloose” at 7:30pm on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, and at 3pm on Sunday, June 3. Tickets are $15 general admission and are available at the box office, online at playhousesquare.org and by phone at 216-241-6000.
