Aubrey Burchell joins cast of 'Footloose' at Scottdale's Geyer theater

Fresh from her run to the semifinals of “America’s Got Talent” Season 17, Aubrey Burchell is getting back on stage to challenge herself in a new way.

The 21-year-old singer from North Huntingdon is playing Rusty in the Actors and Artists of Fayette County production of “Footloose The Musical,” running Thursday through Sunday at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale.

“(Rusty’s) songs are among, if not, the most difficult songs I have ever sung,” Burchell said. “I’m in the tippy top of my range for the entire show, top to bottom. Whoever wrote Rusty was like, good luck to that vocalist.”

And that’s not all.

“With ‘Let’s Hear It for the Boy,’ which is the big dance number, singing and dancing at the same time and having the breath control to carry that song has been a challenge for me — but that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “If you’re a performer, the goal is to be pushing those boundaries.

“I’m definitely proud of what I’ve accomplished and what we’ve put together as a cast.”

The 30-member cast features performers from Westmoreland, Fayette and Allegheny counties, said David DeFazio of Harrison, who is co-directing the production with Rachael Szabo of Connellsville.

“Everybody knows about Aubrey and her talents, but we have a really incredible talent pool and she blends in nicely with them,” he said. “Everybody is going to be impressed with the entire cast.”

Based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, the 1998 musical follows teen Ren McCormack as he moves from Chicago to a small Midwestern town where dancing and rock music are banned. With the help of new friends, Ren fights an uphill battle — and the town’s influential minister — to loosen things up.

“I’m a child of the ’80s and ‘Footloose’ is a favorite of mine, and Rachael’s as well. It’s the first musical she ever performed in,” DeFazio said. “Some productions place it in a modern setting, but we decided we wanted to keep it true to the ’80s setting.”

The directors’ vision for the town of Bomont, where the story takes place, is to show how elements often associated with the 1980s haven’t shown up there yet, due to restrictions designed to keep modern culture at bay.

“We’re trying to show, as the show progresses, how those cultural changes start to make their way into the town, until the end of the show when they finally catch up to the rest of the world,” DeFazio said.

‘Little spitfire’

Burchell’s character is a high school senior who has a crush on one of Ren’s friends.

“She’s a little spitfire of a girl. She’s hilarious, she talks super, super fast, and she has all this personality that’s restrained in this town where basically dancing and performing and enjoying yourself is a sin,” she said. “I felt I saw piece of me in Rusty.”

Burchell was chosen for her part prior to learning that she’d made the live shows of “America’s Got Talent.”

“When Aubrey came to our open auditions, we pretty much knew immediately we wanted her for the role of Rusty, because it’s a very demanding vocal role and she was perfectly suited for it,” DeFazio said.

When Burchell got word that she would be off to California for the live shows, everyone adjusted.

“We knew we’d lose her for a number of weeks, so we actually did front-load a lot of the schedule and did all of the choreography and dance and vocal teachings for parts she was involved in before she left,” DeFazio said. “She did a lot of rehearsal on her own while she was in California.”

“It was a good distraction from everything that was going on. It allowed my mind to work on other things,” Burchell said. “I know this may sound a little silly, but I was just as excited for ‘Footloose’ as I was for ‘AGT.’”

The cast also is notable, DeFazio said, for including two family groups.

Josh Brady, who plays Ren McCormack, is pitted against his real-life parents, Dan and Robyn, in the roles of the formidable Reverend Shaw Moore and his wife, Vi. His sister, Angelina, is one of the featured dancers.

Married couple Dani and Dale White play Ren’s aunt and uncle, and their daughter Adeline is a dance captain.

Music director Hazel Brown of Delmont will play keyboards and lead a musical ensemble featuring a second keyboard, guitar, bass, drum, percussion and two reed players.

“Footloose” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the theater at 111 Pittsburgh St. Tickets are $15, available by calling 724-887-0887 or online at geyerpac.com.