By Eric Allen

If students had wandered to the top floor of Curry Student Center Saturday afternoon, they might have found an area where no dancing was allowed.

That’s because it’s outlawed in the small town of Beaumont, Texas, the setting for the musical “Footloose,” the play which Northeastern’s musical theatre club, The Great White Way, was rehearsing.

The club, thats name is in reference to a section of Broadway, will perform “Footloose” on Dec. 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fenway Center on St. Stephen Street. The musical was adapted from the popular 1980s movie starring Kevin Bacon, incorporating songs that were originally on the films soundtrack.

“It’s about this kid from Chicago,” said The Great White Way President Peter Karpathakis. “[He and his mom] go to live with his mother’s sister.”

And so begins the trouble for lead character Ren McCormack, who is a fish out of water in the conservative Beaumont. The town has banned dancing ever since an accident that took the lives of four teenage residents, Karpathakis said. “They believe that dancing leads to sex, drugs, anything else that’s bad.”

According to the play, the four teenagers were killed in a car accident on a local bridge after a dance one night. One of the teachers was the local reverend’s son, who rallied the town to outlaw dancing as a tribute to the teens. The law was in effect for about five years, but then McCormack moves in.

He falls for the reverend’s daughter, Ariel Moore, played by sophomore communication studies major Chelsie Ouellette.

The play is more than a group of kids who want to dance, Ouellette said.

“It definitely has a lesson,” she said. “There’s a little more depth to it than people realize.”

McCormack works to get the no-dance law repealed, culminating in a final dance for the local high school’s senior class.

“We have a really great cast right now,” said cast member Jessica Mitchell. “It’s all about having fun.”

Ouellette said the musical’s cast, which includes 35 members, makes up the club’s biggest show yet.

Each show put on by the club is done without the help of the NU Theatre, said Mitchell, a sophomore music industry major.

“Everything is student-run,” said Karpathakis, noting the difficulties of balancing rehearsals with homework. “We always end up getting it done.”

The shows have always been produced completely by students since the club’s conception, Karpathakis said. “It began with a handful of students who wanted to do musical theatre,” he said. “We do a musical every semester.”

Ouellette, who has done three shows with The Great White Way, said this semester’s show is a favorite. “We have some great music and great dancing,” she said. “It’s fun – I love dancing.”

The show includes 18 musical numbers, some of which are the film’s well-known songs like “Holding out for a Hero,” “Let’s Hear it for the Boy,” and the title song, “Footloose.”

“The opening scene is my favorite. Everything has to happen at once,” Karpathakis said. “It’s the most challenging scene we have.”

For anyone who might like his or her theatre sans singing, Karpathakis said “Footloose” is still enjoyable. “It’s a perfect show for people who don’t necessarily like musicals,” he said.

Mitchell said audience members will enjoy the ’80s flashback.

“If you love the ’80s, if you were born in the ’80s, if you have a heart, you’ll love Footloose,” she said.