Let's hear it for Kevin Bacon

The “Footloose” star returns to Payson High this month

Still reeling from the knowledge that some of my current co-workers have never seen “The Sound of Music,” last week’s Kevin Bacon update felt like a shot in the arm. It will uplift you, too.

Utah’s Payson High School student body succeeded in their efforts to recruit Bacon back to campus. He will attend prom there on April 20th. From the looks of this announcement, it will be an unforgettable night.

Nothing says “the movies are magic” quite like “Footloose” 40 years on. And just as Captain von Trapp banned his children from singing in the house after his wife’s death, “Footloose” relies on a similar backstory.

Filmed over 40 years ago, “Footloose” was largely based on a true story originating in Oklahoma. However, the ban on dancing predates statehood. According to author and photographer M. J. Alexander, the prohibition was an effort to “keep the Chickasaw Nation free of carousing.”

For 82 years, there was never a prom. But when Elmore City’s Class of 1981 had a radical idea to make their voices heard, things finally shifted. They petitioned the five-member school board to overturn the ban. Apparently, the vote tied 2-2 until the board president uttered these words: “Let ‘em dance.”

“Footloose” premiered in February 1984. The musical adaptation opened on Broadway in 1998, followed by 2011’s film remake. In this way, “Footloose” defined an entire generation. Its whole trajectory is not unlike “The Color Purple,” minus the Alice Walker novel.

(Courtesy of Internet Movie Poster Awards)

What makes Payson’s interest in Bacon’s fancy footwork so relatable is because of what it represents. None of today’s senior class was alive when the first film came out, let alone the musical.

In fact, when the remake hit the big screen, the Class of 2024 was in kindergarten. Many of their parents probably felt nostalgic for the original when the remake hit the multiplex.

Of course Kevin Bacon is the Six Degrees guy. And his performance in 1984 resulted in the seventh highest grossing movie that year. That he is so willing and able to give back to a whole new fanbase is remarkably refreshing.

Makes me think that drop of golden sun, Dame Julie Andrews, would accept my invitation for afternoon tea, a drink with jam and bread.

She would, wouldn’t she? I’ll let you when she gets back to me, a name I call myself.

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Until then, thank you for reading. I sincerely appreciate all the great comments folks have left, too. Honestly, each and every one has warmed my heart! Plus, it’s easy. ;)