Croatia's FOOTLOOSE Launches Regional Tour

Musical Footloose, that has brought the spirit of Broadway to Zagreb and has been shaking the city in an unstoppable rhythm four times a week, has blown away the critics and the audience alike, kicked off the Summer Tour. After the first two sold out shows on the tour, an ancient Amphitheater in Pula and on Summer Stage in Opatija, the producers proudly announced the Regional Tour, which will include major cities in the Balkan region. They also hinted the tour might continue on to European and American cities with large Croatian communities.

Croatian version of Footloose is very significant in the region not only because of its amazing production, high energy, great cast and breathtaking choreography, but because it is the first privately produced Broadway show in the region and is creating a new movement in region's stale entertainment market, as well as marks the beginning of new era in Croatian (and regional) theater.

For the first time in Croatia's history a musical of this caliber held an open audition throughout the country and selected its cast and band from more than 700 performers. To demonstrate the importance of the project in the region, it is sufficient to mention that about a hundred of the performers at the audition were not from Croatia but from the countries of the region!

The show, with its production background story, is also awakening the sense of social responsibility in Croatia and furthering Croatian entrepreneurship. The two producers, Branko Glad and Tadija Kolovrat, after creating a detailed business plan and tight production timeline, they invested their own life savings into government-owned infrastructure (a run-down movie theater) to host this spectacular production with no guarantees and no help from the government. The producers' goal is to make Croatia Broadway of the region like West End in London or Stage Entertainment in Germany and to make entertainment one of the staples of Croatian tourism. Their efforts were recognized by Croatian president Mr. Ivo Josipovic. The director of Croatian Footloose is a world-renowned choreographer and director Igor Barberic (Chicago, Evita, Fame, Cabaret, La Cage, RENT...) whose musical GREASE has been sold out in Zagreb for over 5 years. Musical Director is Michael Laangs (RENT, Mamma Mia, HAIR) who worked on Broadway, Las Vegas, Hollywood and all over Europe.

The cast of Croatian Footloose, selected at auditions, is composed of both seasonal actors and the ones on stage for the first time. Among them there are several stars like Mario Valentic (TV soap opera star), as well as amazingly talented contestants of Croatian versions of TV shows American Idol and America's Got Talent.

Judging by the long lasting standing (and dancing) ovations after every show, the production is guaranteed to be a success for many years ahead and Croatia has become Broadway of the region.

 

 

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