Tulpehocken High School performed sold out shows of “Footloose” on March 10 and 11.
“The students and staff are absolutely thrilled about two sold out shows,” said director Jocelyn Gross. “There has been so much excitement and anticipation for this show. This hasn’t happened since 2011 when we did ‘Suessical.'”
This year, Tulpehocken had a ticket ordering website created by former student, Dalton Scharff. Two thirds of ticket orders were placed using the new website, musical.tulpehocken.org, said Gross.
The 75 students in the cast, crew, and pit, including grades 7-12, performed “big numbers that involve intense choreography and high energy numbers,” said Gross.
“We love that even the ensemble gets quite a bit of stage time in this show,” said Gross. “We’ve even got students rolling around on stage on roller skates! Finally, in the last scene the characters all hold a school prom and end the show with a confetti cannon!”
Gross said they chose Footloose because they were looking for a show that would draw people and get excited about.
“In 30 years, Footloose has never been done by Tulpehocken. We also select a show based on the students. We have a lot of talented students and we really try to showcase that talent,” she said. “Ultimately, this is all for the kids. That’s why we do this. We want the kids to have fun and make memories of a lifetime. Tulpehocken is a small school so a lot of these students are involved in a lot of different activities, but we make it our goal to get as many students involved as possible. Every year we see incredible growth in the students. Not only in their talent and skills, but in their self confidence. Some of these kids get on stage, belt out a song and surprise us all!”
Gross said they want to thank all of the parent volunteers, the talented students, and supportive administration.
“We are already planning next year’s show and have some exciting things in store for next year!”
