Dulaney High School travelled back to 1984 – complete with side ponytails, legwarmers and an explosion of neon colors – during the recent staging of “Footloose,” courtesy of The Dulaney Theatre Company.
The energetic and joyful performance showcased the talents of almost 70 students as the production was truly student led throughout all aspects with guidance from director Tami Moon, musical director, Christy Senita and choreographer, Abby Fair, all teachers at the school.
In a twist from the original storyline, Bridgett Millett took on the role of Ren McCormack, a role made famous by Kevin Bacon, and became the new girl in a small town that has outlawed rock music and dancing. With the help of new friends, Willard, played by Chris Williams, and Cassie Hubbard as Ariel, Ren works to loosen up the conservative town but faces opposition from the influential Rev. Shaw Moore, played by Dani Harrer.
With a soundtrack full of popular music from the 1980s, the performance was energetic, joyful and just plain fun.
Other main cast members included Ava Barnes, Lydie Hubbard, Caitlin Elliott, Mairead Debrabander, Maeve Brinkley, John Kallaur, Zach Lifchez, Jackson Drake, Sarah Castor, Hayley Stewart, Maya Liwanag, Briche Jacobs, Emma Palumbo, Isabeth Lamont and Addi Stashik. The ensemble included Ella Shane, Josh Alvarado, Laura Neer, Lucy Martinez, Paige Siegel, Prudence Muyasaa, Riley Palumbo, Samantha Rudai, Sarah Chiles and Shivani Mutreja.
Sam Dua served as stage manager and was assisted by Ava Brennerman, Madeline Knights and Michaela Steiner. The sets were courtesy of set designer, Zoe Horn, and a crew headed up by Emily Zhou and Mariam Darraj with assistance from Alex McChesney, Annabel Keeney, Ashlyn Hoffman, Brady Patterson, James Zhang, Miles Moon and Tem Teneza. Props were handled by chief Lyla Walter and her crew, Maulanna Bubba, Sadeen Daoud, Shivani Mutreja and Vidit Kamboj.
The terrific 1980s-era costumes were pulled together by Jean McGregor and Sunny Shen with assistance from Ace Hartley, Aubrey Katz, Kaitlyn Petroski, Louisa Cheek, Luke Daniel and Sarah Harriman.
A performance is nothing without strong lighting and sound and those duties were taken on by the sound chiefs, Jay Lee and Jimmy Zhu, and their sound crew of Amelia Iacoboni, John Morgado-Martinez, Hunter Weller, Paige Tong, Timothy Sun and Vicky Yan. Ethan McWilliams and Matthew Lin headed up the lights with assistance from Jay Palumbo, Mei Mei Barna, and Owen Zinn.
Congratulations to the entire Dulaney Theatre Company on a thoroughly enjoyable performance.
Dulaney basektball all-stars
A shout-out also goes to a quartet of athletic Dulaney Lions as both the women’s and the men’s basketball teams sent players to the annual Baltimore City versus County Senior All-Star basketball games.
Morgan Erhardt and Sarah Szalcyzk represented the women’s team, while Patrick Wynne and Eric Zhang played for the men’s team. Both Baltimore County teams proved to be victorious, and it was a nice ending to all four players’ outstanding senior seasons.