Though it's Adrian Aguilar's fourth summer at Wagon Wheel Theatre, it's a summer of firsts for the accomplished, young Thespian.
In the musical "Footloose," Aguilar will be taking on his first major lead role at the Wagon Wheel as Ren McCormack.
"The Wagon Wheel has been the only place where I haven't been the lead, lead man," Aguilar said.
He'll take on his first non-musical role at the Wagon Wheel later this season in "To Kill A Mockingbird," opposite his acting coach of the past two years, Jim Daniels. And he'll play the electric guitar on stage for the first time in "Buddy."
Between those shows, he'll make appearances in "Guys & Dolls" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." He also kept audiences well entertained as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard Of Oz."
And if any fans want to see more of the athletic, friendly and polite young man, they can always Google him. Clips of Aguilar singing, performing and just having fun are posted on Youtube.
Local theatergoers first met Adrian and his brother, Alex Aguilar, in summer 2005. Since then, Adrian transferred from Drake University to Western Michigan, and he's performed at the Wagon Wheel, Drake and Western. But other than that, he said he's been pretty "low key."
By leaving the fine arts department at Western recently, and pursuing a general studies degree, Aguilar said he can finish college by Christmas. He's ready to hit the world, but it's not Broadway or international stardom Aguilar said he wants out of life. He wants a family, stability and a good home - a regular life, preferably in Chicago.
After graduation later this year, Aguilar said he and Brianna Borger, a Wagon Wheel alum herself, will get an apartment together in Chicago. The apartment may be WWT actor Ben Dicke's old not-so-great apartment.
"I love Chicago," said Aguilar. "I'm a Chicago boy."
In the theater world, he said, actors are either drawn to New York or Chicago. For him, nothing is better than the Chicago skyline, with all the lights shining bright.
And Chicago is just one of the similarities Aguilar has with his character Ren."The thing is, the role is actually just me, so I'm not really worried about it," said Aguilar.
In "Footloose," teenager Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small town in the West. Though he attempts to fit in, the streetsmart Ren discovers the small town has banned rock music and dancing, and it doesn't sit well with him. With senior prom around the corner, Ren rebels and fights the law, the local reverend in charge of keeping the order and the bullies who don't like change.
Aguilar said he's a rebel himself. He doesn't break rules just for the sake of breaking them. He's more of the kind of rebel who, instead of just accepting the status quo or a dumb rule, confronts it, challenges it, and looks to change it.
The movie "Footloose," upon which the musical is based, was released in 1984. Starring Kevin Bacon ("The Woodsman"), it also featured Lori Singer ("The Falcon and the Snowman") as Ariel Moore, John Lithgow ("Kinsey") as the Rev. Shaw Moore, Dianne Wiest ("I Am Sam") as Vi Moore, Chris Penn ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") as Willard Hewitt and Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex & The City") as Rusty.
"Footloose the Musical" opened on Broadway in October 1998, running for 709 performances. The show won Tony Awards in 1999 for Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score and Best Choreography.
Though some of the songs are retained from the movie in the musical, such as "Almost Paradise" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy," which may be reminiscent of the 1980s, Aguilar said the story and the relationship between the characters don't keep the musical stuck in that era. The characters could be placed in any time period.
Of course, as of this interview Monday afternoon, Aguilar said with a big, warm smile, they hadn't tried on the costumes yet.
What really got Aguilar wanting to play Ren, he said, was the style of the show. As much as he loves performing in a musical such as "A Grand Night for Singing," his heart is with rock, R&B and hip hop.
He loves to just rip out the high notes and break dance.
"This show is non-stop dance all the time," Aguilar said. "It's so energetic, it's so stylized."
Scott Michaels and Michael Winslow deserve the credit for the phenomenal dancing audiences will see in the show, Aguilar said. Winslow, Aguilar said, has the "most ridiculous" dancing skills ever.
Aguilar also gave credit to his castmates for "Footloose."
John Rapson (Uncle Henry from "The Wizard of Oz") plays Willard. "He has it down pat," Aguilar said. "He's great."
Kira Lace Hawkins (Aunt Em/Glinda from "Oz") plays Vi, Ariel's mother and the wife of the reverend. Hawkins, Aguilar said, has a maturity and presence about her that can't be taught. She just has it. She will really captivate the audience with her performance, Aguilar said.
As Ariel, Aguilar said Annie Fitch (Dorothy from "Oz") is one of his best scene partners. She has an incredible amount of talent.
"This show is going to be one of the most high-energy, entertaining, fun-for-everyone shows that I've ever been a part of at Wagon Wheel," Aguilar said.
He said a ton of the credit, again, goes to director and choreographer Scott Michaels. Michaels has taken up the reins at the Wagon Wheel and is being successful with a lot of fun thrown in.
"He has completely blown me away this summer," Aguilar said.
Of course, Aguilar also did not want to forget Roy Hine, Wagon Wheel Theatre's artistic director who died in 2007.
"This will be my 12th show here. It'll never be the same without Roy. Roy gave me the best memories I have. He will definitely be missed," Aguilar concluded.
For more on Adrian Aguilar, visit online at http://ca.youtube.com/user/Yermomsausername or http://web.mac.com/briannaborger/iWeb/adrianaguilar/Home.html
Single adult tickets for "Footloose" are $30 for all shows. Tickets for students 13 through college are $16, and children 12 and under are $12. Special rates are available for groups of 15 or more.
To order tickets, or for more information, call the box office at 574-267-8041, toll free at 866-823-2618 or visit online at www.wagonwheeltheatre.com
