Theater Review: "Footloose" by YouthCONNection at Center Stage

Shelton - Center Stage Theatre is presenting a spirited production of “Footloose” that features the students of the venue’s YouthCONNection. The musical is directed by Justin Zenchuk, with choreography by Rob Merante and musical direction by Fiona Bryson.

This summer marks the 39th year of the Youth CONNection, which is a popular program for students and young adults ages 14 through 23. The director has been a part of the group for the past 17 years, moving from the stage to behind the scenes and finally to beautifully directing the productions. Zenchuk is grateful that this group is able to provide the experience of a full live orchestra for the cast for the first time since 2009.

The one graduate of the program is ensemble member Sandra Fernandes, who has been a fixture on the YC stage for many years and will age out this year. In her final YC show, she was part of the costume department and is also a staff member at the Center Stage Theatre Education Center.

The actors manage to maintain their Texas accents and the ensemble members dance and sing their hearts out.

Tenor Zachary Haywood tackles the leading role of the rebel Ren McCormack and does everything right. He is a rising junior at the Hopkins School in New Haven and played George in “The Wedding Singer” at Center Stage. Haywood is performing in his third Youth CONNection show.

Zola Kneeland is the equally rebellious Ariel Moore in her first show with this group. She is a talented graduate of Amity High School, where she played Tanya in “Mamma Mia” and Leanne in “Puffs: The Play” before she graduated, both performances under the direction of Rob Kennedy.

Matthew Sullivan, a rising senior at UConn who appeared in both “Cinderella” and “Godspell” at Center Stage, ages up to play the Rev. Shaw Moore. Melanie Byron, who just played Nanny in the hilarious “BINGO Jamboree” on this stage, doesn’t have to age up to senior citizen age in order to play the role of his wife Vi.

Ashley Carpp, a Halo Award winner for best supporting actress in a musical, crushes the role of Rusty and Ben Souza, who has been performing in Center Stage productions since the age of eight, shines as Willard Hewitt, especially in his showcase “Mama Says (You Can’t Back Down.)” He recently played Horton the Elephant in Shelton High School’s spring musical production of “Seussical,” for which he was nominated at the Stephen Sondheim Awards for Best Actor.

Ren’s single mother Ethel is played very convincingly by Oxford High rising senior Shay-Marie Neary, with Southern CT State University junior Cora Welsh (“The Wedding Singer”) as Lulu and Colin Flaumenhaft (Brad in “BINGO Jamboree”) as Wes, her brother and his wife. The latter also plays Garvin.

Nicholas Gugliotti, who will enter the University of New Haven in the fall, plays Coach Roger Dunbar, and Julie Hoff, entering her junior year at Western CT State University, plays his wife Eleanor. Hunter Smith of Milford gets to play Ariel’s mean boyfriend Chuck Cranton in his third show with this group. Amity High School graduate Macie Cox plays Urleen and Kate McPadden, a rising junior at Shelton High who played Gertrude McFuzz in their award-winning production of “Seussical,” plays Wendy Jo, two of Ariel’s friends.

All of the young men in the cast step up can be depended on to shine on stage. Jaxon Beirne, a junior at Western CT State University who was part of “Ernest and the Pale Moon,” gets to play Lyle, Jeter and the dancing Cowboy Bob. Fordham University junior Zachary Simonetti appears as Travis and Bickle and Southern CT State University student Sebastian Cordero portrays the high school principal in his first show at Center Stage.

As usual, the technical aspects of the performance are all of high quality. The director makes use of the entire stage to paint some great scenes; for instance, the kids in the high school gym on one side of the stage and the church choir members on the other for the first act closer, “I’m Free/Heaven Help Me” is so effective.

It is always such a delight to watch Fiona Bryson conduct her orchestra. Because she does not play an instrument during the performance, she is free to use her entire body to lead the seven talented musicians, who in this case are the same ages as the performers on stage. The orchestra sits in single fill along the wall that is on the house right side of the auditorium. Colleen Toole plays keyboard 1, Marin Korenaga takes keyboard 2, Anthony Pellegrini is on reeds, Bryant Recker on guitar, TJ Croke on bass, CJ Dioguardi on drums and Jillian Nunez on percussion.

Merante’s challenging and lively choreography was mastered by all of the dancers; it is so much fun to watch the entire stage full of young performers dancing in unison. I really liked the choreography in the opening and closing “Footloose,” “Holding Out For A Hero,” and “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” but all of it was very good.

The set design by Ron Baldwin works beautifully, with colorful scenic design by Kathy Fox. The director also designed the lighting that illuminates everything. Carol Koumbaros designed the multitude of costumes needed to pull off the various scenes for all 38 cast members.

Because of demand for tickets, a performance was actually added and a few seats are still left for next week. The run is through July 31 – you will regret missing out on this fun, toe-tapping show. Limited Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/2940...

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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