Dilworth United Methodist’s ‘Footloose’ celebrates song, dance and diversity

“Footloose.”

And he got 36 white, black, Mormon, Jewish, straight, gay, men, women and children, he said, “and every other ‘label’ you can think of.”

And ministers, bankers, lawyers and a drag queen. (The script doesn’t call for one, but weekend drag queen Billy Reasor plays a wrestling coach.)

Everyone has joined forces for the joy of music (songs include “Let’s Hear It for The Boy,” “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Almost Paradise”) and theater – and a good cause. Ticket sales benefit The Relatives, a nonprofit devoted to keeping children safe and families together.

The Rev. Karen Easter Bayne, senior minister, was new last year when the church put on “Godspell.” She saw the “joy on everyone’s faces,” and knew a new annual tradition was born.

“We welcome everyone,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re now doing an annual spring musical. It’s a way to reach out to people who wouldn’t think of walking through the doors of a church.”

Emily Holler, a theater veteran at just 16, has enjoyed learning about other faith traditions and backgrounds. “The people in this show,” she said, “have told me about their jobs, their kids, their values and their lives – topics you don’t spend much time discussing with a typical cast.”

The setting of “Footloose” (originally a 1984 Kevin Bacon movie, then a Broadway musical and again, in 2011, a movie with Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid) is Bomont, Ga., where the city fathers have banned dancing and rock music. Ren, a teenage newcomer, is trying to bring them back.

Color-blind casting

Charlotte lawyer Hunt Wofford, who played Walter Cunningham Sr. in Theatre Charlotte’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 2014, portrays the pastor who led the charge to ban dancing. John Lithgow played him in the movie.

In Curry’s version – unlike the film – the pastor’s wife and daughter are African-American. Darious Crawford plays Vi Moore, the pastor’s wife. She’s just 25, but she plays the mother of a teenager, Ariel, played by 21-year-old Brea Wimbush.

Curry didn’t pay attention to age – or any other conventions – when casting this musical.

“The humor in the fact that (Bomont, Ga.) is against dancing – but not against interracial marriage – has not escaped us,” said Meredith Jeffries. She recruited several cast members, including Matt Hawkins, her former law student. And Jeffries, an attorney, has her biggest theatrical role to date as the chair of the town council.

The interracial marriage is never addressed. “I didn’t want to reference it in our show,” Curry said, “because I feel like our audiences ultimately wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – care.”

“It was purely coincidence that Ariel and Vi, who play mother and daughter, were both African-American,” Curry said. “They both just happen to have the voices and abilities that best matched the roles. I wouldn’t have thought twice about casting two white parents with an African-American daughter.”

A return to theater

Matt Hawkins (Ren) said this cast is “no more or less diverse than any other I’ve been a part of.” And he’s been in several; it’s just been awhile.

Theater was always a family affair for Hawkins, 29. “My dad … was a music professor at the junior college in West Virginia where I’m from, and he was also the musical producer for their community theater,” he said. The last role Hawkins had as a high school senior was Ren in “Footloose.”

After college, Hawkins gave up acting. “The last thing I did with my dad before he passed away two years ago was take him to see the Broadway revival of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ It was … the show he loved producing the most.”

“After he died, I promised myself I would get back into the theater game,” Hawkins said. This is his return.

Darious Crawford also acted in high school and college. Incredibly, she knows what it’s like to be part of a community that banned dancing. Her alma mater, Houghton College in New York, had a 125-year ban on dancing that was lifted at the end of Crawford’s senior year.

Although she’s acted before, her role in “Footloose” is the realization of a dream. She saw Dilworth Methodist’s “Godspell” last year, took the playbill home and placed it in her dream book. And now she’s got a lead role in a musical at the place where the dream began.

Curry is sensitive to his cast.

Brendan Hanks, 18, an East Mecklenburg High School student, was cast as Willard. “Being a Mormon, I avoid swearing, so I am grateful to Wes for allowing me to use other words in their place,” he said.

Keeping it in the family

Seven parent/child pairs are among the cast and crew. And that’s not counting Billy Reasor’s partner, who’s helping with tech and lighting.

Mixing work and family is, in this case, a plus. “I think they push each other to be better,” Curry said.

Jeffries, a Dilworth Methodist member, thought auditioning would allow her to spend more time with her daughter, South Mecklenburg sophomore Emily Holler, who’s been acting since she was 8.

“Emily wasn’t sure she wanted her mom in the play,” Jeffries said. “But it’s been fun watching her. She has a big part (Rusty) and sings two solos, and I think she’s great. My friends in the cast will give me the stink eye if I try to tell Emily how I think she’s doing.”

Emily doesn’t need mom’s direction. She’s been in “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory,” “Annie,” “Beauty and The Beast” and more.

“I’ve always considered theater my ‘thing’ that made me unique from my athletic siblings,” Emily said. “Now that my mom is sharing this with me, we’ve grown a lot closer. I’ve come to respect her more, watching her work so hard at something she is just a beginner at, and I think she’s come to respect me more because she has now experienced firsthand how much work goes into a production.”

And here’s something you don’t hear every day: A teen approves of her mom’s dance moves. “I’ve been impressed with how well she’s picked up the harmonies, the dance combinations and how she’s developed a very natural stage presence,” Emily said.

“It’s exciting to see a child gain more respect for their mom or dad and what they can do,” Curry said. “It’s even more rewarding to see a parent gain more respect for their child (for) the same reasons.”

“People are capable of so much more than they think,” said Curry.

“As a director, it’s exciting to head a production that’s made up of veterans, newcomers and, in our case, those who have acted but haven’t been involved with a production for several years,” Curry said.

Last year was the first year Dilworth Methodist staged a large-scale theater production. “I approached the church, and a few very trusting individuals came along for the ride,” Curry said. Recruiting outside the church last year led to some diversity.

What would Jesus do?

Hate the sin, but love the sinner isn’t something you’ll hear at this church.

Dilworth Methodist’s motto – carved in stone on the building adjacent to the sanctuary – is “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.”

Curry, who is gay, says the congregation isn’t just open to people of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They’re open to the unchurched, too.

“I won’t lie, when some came to audition, they were very open about the fact they hadn’t been in a church in years or were concerned they didn’t ‘fit the mold,’” he said. “That’s not what this is about.”

“This is about showing Charlotte that we are an all-accepting environment that welcomes everyone.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Dilworth United Methodist’s ‘Footloose’ celebrates song, dance and diversity."