The blue-walled rehearsal space attached to Cape Fear Regional Theatre is a mix of sounds of shoes hitting the floor. A mix of Chuck Taylor's and Cowboy boots move across the room. Looking up from further away, one could only see a sea of mostly cowboy hats on actors, doing steps, swinging in and swinging out, feet kicking up, 1-2-3-4. Again.
And again.
L Boogie is at the front of the rehearsal space with Camo pants, a long sweatshirt and a hat that reads "Do Good. Be Good." She laughs as she mimics a sort of country boogie-scat while the dancers follow out her choreography. She chameleons into her space with dancing being the tie that always binds for her.
"Don't be thrown by people walking by you," Director Suzanna Agins calls to them as the main actors of the show slink through the crowd.
"I'm gonna pray for y'all," L Boogie laughs at the dancers trying to keep the steps and not bump into the actors moving through their couplings. Boogie is a personality unto herself. This go round, she has the opportunity to choreograph CFRT's upcoming production of Footloose. Frequently after each step, she calls to the dancers to give themselves a high five.
Footloose will open in September in just a few short weeks. The actors, some of whom have graced the stage of CFRT before, have the pleasure of coming to the stage in the last production prior to the upcoming large renovation. CFRT will soon move to a space for the upcoming season near the Bordeaux shopping center.
For those who loved Kevin Bacon’s iconic movie growing up, the upcoming musical follows pretty close to the plot line of the 1984 movie.
"Some of those things are difficult to do on stage," Agins says and then chuckles, "two people playing chicken while riding tractors."
The production, however, will include the majority of the original music from the movie. Agins noted that the screenwriter for the movie helped in co-writing the music including the title song, "Footloose" with Kenny Loggins.
For this particular production, Agins viewed 300 tapes from auditions in three days. This did not include the in-person auditions she would do later.
"You start to feel a little fuzzy [watching] but then you watch one and you sit up straight and say, 'this person is amazing.'"
In the front of the rehearsal space, Josiah Thomas Randolph is standing, bouncing back and forth as he waits for his lines in the rehearsal room. His energy can be felt across the room and a smile rarely leaves his face. Randolph knew when he heard about the production of Footloose there was only one role he could do — Ren McCormick.
Although Randolph was born in Greensboro, this is his first production at CFRT. He grew up on Footloose and loving the energy that came from Ren. And this production, his family will get to come and watch.
"His character is so beautifully written. He's a complex teenager," Randolph says.
Randolph moves forward in the rehearsal space, delivers his line about the country bar the teenagers have just found themselves in and then bebops to the wall, but not before grabbing his awkward, lovable best friend Willard, who is played by Charlie Tucker. Tucker, who is no stranger to CRFT, moves awkwardly about the room. In between takes, while other actors are chatting, Tucker is methodically recalling his steps and quietly saying his lines to himself.
Standing beside Randolph and Tucker is Victoria Mesa who plays Ariel. This is also Mesa's first go at CFRT. Funny enough for Mesa, she says she did not grow up watching Footloose but gravitated towards movies like Grease instead.
"I knew some of the songs. I knew 'Footloose.' I knew Kevin Bacon," she laughs.
For Mesa, this has given her the special pleasure of really curating the character, she says. Script analysis, a big love in her life, has been a large part of playing this role.
"I admire her in a lot of ways," she says. "This loss [of her brother] sort of drives her. She becomes a strong, fiery, passionate teenager."
The foursome, including Zoe Godfrey-Grinage who plays Rusty, maneuver through the crowd of dancers and find themselves in the back of the dancing establishment. The only actual recall to the space they will act in is the tape on the floor to show the actors where walls are located on the stage.
Randolph stands at the back of the room beaming. Tucker brings out a script book while he waits and walks awkwardly about. It’s not very clear if this is in character or just Tucker himself. Mesa and Godfrey-Grinage look about the room and wait for the beginning of the next sequence of events which will include dancing of their own.
The rehearsal will go on for hours as they all refine small details. Some of the actors, like Amber Dawn French, who plays Vie, the pastor's wife, are missing tonight. These scenes don't involve their characters. For French, it is also a welcome back to CFRT. She's a local to the area and often gets to audition the productions at the theatre.
This production, however, rings a little different as French says she really identifies with some of the religious undertones in her own character's story. French did not audition for Vie specifically but just for an adult part in the play. The twist of playing a character with religious beliefs similar to those she grew up in was a fortuitous turn.
"I came from a similar background," she says. "Not allowed to dance. Not allowed to wear pants. It's been interesting telling a story similar to mine."
The challenge, French says, is playing a character with such an incredible loss and that French in real life is an empathetic person.
"If I think too hard about it I cry and I can't sing anymore. The challenge is ... not falling apart as Amber in the midst of telling
Vie's story."
The actors move about the room again. Tucker, as Willard, says it’s a good time to find a seat (and not dance) while Randolph and Mesa take front stage and join in on the dancing. It’s been a couple hours on this scene but that is nothing new for any of these actors.
The show will start on Sept. 5 and run about three weeks in total. The production will be about two hours and 15 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. This show, Ashley Owen notes, is special because the members of CFRT gave the patrons an opportunity to vote on what play they should do in the first, empty slot of the season and Footloose won "by a landslide."
"It'll be one last hurrah before we officially move," she says. "Celebrate the last 63 years before we open a new chapter."
The production will include a military appreciation as well as a teacher appreciation night and two previews with the first night including a Welcome Back Bash that will feature complimentary drinks and food.
Tickets will range from $19 to $37. For more information about tickets visit CFRT.org or call 910-323-4234.

(Graphic courtesy of Cape Fear Regional Theatre.  Photo: The cast of Footloose pose in downtown Fayetteville. Footloose will open Sept. 5 at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, and will be the last play held at the downtown location until renovations are complete. Photo courtesy of Cape Fear Regional Theatre)