The Central Times asked junior Jordan Gowgiel about his experience as a part of Theatre Central’s production of “Footloose.”

Q: What prompted you to try out for the musical?

A: A lot of my friends had been in the musicals in the past and they would always tell me how much fun it was and what an amazing time they had. I just thought that this year, I would go for it.

Q: Have you done a musical before?

A: No. And I somehow got a lead!

Q: What role are you?

A: I am Willard Hewitt. He is Ren’s best friend who doesn’t know how to dance. He is not afraid of a fight, but he has a heart of gold deep down.

Q: What is the musical and what is it about?

A: The musical this year is “Footloose,” and it’s about a Chicago native who moves to a small town with very strict laws, specifically, not being able to dance. Ren (the Chicago native) comes along and changes everything.

Q: What’s the best part about doing a musical?

A: Seeing my friends everyday after school, hanging out, singing, dancing, acting…just having a good time overall.

Q: How do you enjoy being a lead role in the show?

A: It’s so nerve-racking, because I’ve never done anything like this before. But I’ve always kinda liked being on stage, and I’m super excited for this role.

Q: Describe the work being a lead entails.

A: You have to do a lot of practice outside of school because there’s not enough time during the rehearsals to do it, and you can’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. You have to go to more rehearsals than other people in the show.

Q: How long have you been practicing?

A: Five days a week from 3:30 to 5:30 ever since mid-January.

Q: Do you practice at home?

A: Yes, yes I do. I practice the dance moves in my living room, I practice memorizing my lines, and I sing. A lot.

Q: What were auditions like?

A: Stressful. I don’t know why, but I’ve always hated being one on one with someone and they’re just paying attention to you…it’s scary. You have to have a prepared monologue and a song of your own choice ready for the audition. It’s preferred that it’s memorized.

Q: Describe callbacks.

A: Not as stressful as auditions, because I had a lot of friends that were also auditioning and got called back as well. It boosted my self-esteem because when you performed in front of other people, they loved it. We got classified by characters we could possibly fit or be and then we would practice a specific character’s song and perform that, like secondary auditions.

Q: How did you feel coming out of callbacks?

A: I felt like a lot of people did better than I did, but I still had tons of fun just doing it. I didn’t actually care if I got a role or not, I just wanted to do the musical.

Q: How did you feel when you saw the cast list?

A: I cried tears of joy. My hands were shaky, my heart was pounding. Throughout the entire day, people were texting me saying congrats. I was super happy and nervous at the same time.

Q: Anything else you want to say about the show?

A: Come see it.