Northwest Missouri State University’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts will present the musical version of Footloose next week.

Dr. Brian Lanier with Northwest is the musical director and conductor of the production which is based on the hit movie from 1984.

Lanier said Footloose tells the the story of Ren, who, with his mother, moves from Chicago to a small farming town where there’s a ban on dancing that was instituted by the local preacher.

“What we find out in the story is that everyone… (is) dealing with issues in their lives, kind of like all of us are today, and I think that’s one of the things that makes this story so relevant,” Lanier said. “What we see through the exposure of the story is how these people are extraordinary in that they are ordinary but everyone is coping with some issue. Through the story itself and through the music and through the acting, we find people that develop more love and a sense of forgiveness and for one another and for the past and basically forgiving themselves.”

Lanier said there will, of course, be dancing. The Northwest production is choreographed by Marla Heeler with the Dance Arts Center in St. Joseph.

Footloose will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on April 5th, 6th and 7th at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts on the Northwest Campus.

Tickets may be purchased at the cashiering office, located on the first floor of the Administration Building on the Northwest Campus. Tickets can also be purchase at the door beginning one hour before the show. For more information, click here.