Footloose

KICK off your Sunday shoes! The musical Footloose is set to dance up a storm at the Don Russell Performing Arts Centre next month.

Directed by Lys Tickner for the Art in Motion Theatre Company, the show is based on the hit 1984 film of the same name and was nominated for four Tony Awards in 1999.

Footloose is a based on a true story where a town put a ban on dancing – the passion from local youths ultimately proved to the adults that it didn’t put them in danger either morally or physically.

The soundtrack album, which features the songs Footloose, Let's Hear It For The Boy and Holding Out For A Hero, reached number one on the Billboard charts and sold more than 15 million copies.

Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman provided additional music for the stage production.

“Music is good for the soul and this musical is full of number one hits from the mid-80s,” Lys said.

“The biggest difference between the musical and the movie is the complexity of the music.

“The score is full of harmonies that give the songs a beautiful essence but are not the radio versions the audience would be more familiar with.”

A member of Roleystone Theatre since 1989, Lys directed her first play – The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – as a 20-year-old in 1993.

She has gone on to direct Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Little Shop of Horrors, High School Musical, The Snow Queen, Grease and Puffs and has been involved in a plethora of productions, either singing, dancing, acting or stage-managing.

In 2018, Lys established the Art in Motion Theatre Company with a group of like-minded people who wanted to put the fun back into theatre.

Last year, she co-directed The Last Five Years at Fringe World, picking up a weekly award in the music and musicals category.

“I wanted to direct Footloose because it’s a fun show with some of the best music around that everyone can – and will – sing along to,” Lys said.