Show Synopsis:
Ren McCormack and his mother have to move out of Chicago to live with his aunt and uncle in small-town Bomont. Ren becomes friends with Willard and begins to learn how conservative and small-minded the town is, particularly through Reverend Moore and his sermons against the evils of  rock ?n? roll and dancing, which Ren loves to do. Reverend Moore?s son died in a horrific car crash after a dance, causing it to be outlawed. Ren and Reverend Moore?s rebel daughter Ariel begin to flirt, even though she is involved with a bad boy named Chuck, who gets increasingly angry as they talk and flirt with each other. Ren angers Reverend Moore when he walks Ariel home after she was supposed to be up in her bedroom, and then unintentionally insults him. Reverend Moore forbids Ariel to see Ren and they fight. Ren decides that he wants to throw a dance in Bomont and begins to get the students? support. He takes Ariel, Willard, and Willard?s crush Rusty to a nearby town?s dance hall and teaches Willard to dance to impress Rusty. Reverend Moore gets angry at Ariel when she lies about where she was, and Ren and Willard start to plan their dance presentation to the town council. Ariel shows up with a black eye from Chuck, who is angry that she went dancing with Ren, and a Bible with passages marked for Ren?s town council presentation. Although he uses the passages at the meeting, Ren?s case id dismissed. Ren goes to Reverend Moore?s house and speaks to him about loss and how to cope with it, and Reverend Moore tells the town in a sermon that the town will hold a dance. Ren asks Ariel to the dance, Willard asks Rusty, and everyone attends the dance together. 

Character:
Rusty, a vivacious and bubbly teenage girl.

Song Context:
Rusty and her friends explain to Ren that he should keep his head down and follow the rules in Bomont. He is already the new kid with new ideas and views, and his stubborn advocacy for dancing could get him in serious trouble with Reverend Moore and the town law enforcement.	

Fun Facts:
1) This musical was based on the hit 1984 film. 
2) This song was originally recorded by Karla Bonoff for the original film. 
3) Stacy Francis originated the role of Rusty in the Broadway production of Footloose. In an interview with Playbill, Francis said that the fun part of performing this hit song onstage is that "everybody knows it, so the minute the music starts, the clapping starts...It's so much fun. I had done some things in [the] Washington [tryout] -- some more gospel stuff, some riffing, and they pulled me back. They were like, 'Stacy, too many people know this song, it has to stay familiar to them. We understand you have the voice to do it, but you have to stay true to it, because people know it and want to sing along with it.'"