Kevin Bacon visits ‘Footloose’ school ahead of its final prom
After a nearly two-year campaign to get him there, Payson High School students finally welcomed Kevin Bacon back to their school just in time for prom.
Payson served as one of the filming locations for Bacon’s 1984 hit movie “Footloose,” which turned 40 this year. The school is scheduled to be demolished at the end of this academic year, meaning the 2024 prom was the last-ever to be held in Payson’s hallowed halls.
Wanting to give their school a good sendoff, students went all-out trying to welcome back Payson’s most famous “alum.” They recreated scenes, wrote letters, put on the musical, threw a 1980s-themed homecoming dance, hosted a town-wide screening of “Footloose,” held a Mr. Bacon pageant, launched a #BacontoPayson social media campaign and website, raised money for Bacon’s SixDegrees charity and even got Utah governor Spencer Cox to make a video for their cause. Finally, at the end of March, the school called a special assembly to announce that they’d achieved their goal: Kevin Bacon would visit in-person ahead of Payson’s last prom.
@todayshow #Footloose was filmed at Payson High School in Utah, and for months, the students there have tried to get the actor to attend this year’s prom, which will be the last at the building as the school will be relocating at the end of the academic year. Students put on an all-out blitz to get Bacon to come to their prom, using the hashtag #BaconToPayson, re-creating scenes from the movie, learning the “Footloose” dance and hosting an event on prom day to benefit Bacon’s charity, sixdegrees.org . #TODAYShow ♬ original sound – TODAY Show
And visit he did: On Saturday morning, the actor mingled with Payson students on the school’s football field as they put together charity resource kits for Utah organizations.
Saturday night, as Payson students took to the dance floor for their school’s final — and fittingly “Footloose” themed — prom, a prerecorded video of Bacon played.
“Tonight, it’s not about me, it’s about you,” he said in the video, “I want you all to have a great time, and most importantly, be good to each other. And don’t forget to cut loose.” Then a clip of the final scene of the film played and Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” started up to kick off the dance. Lottie Johnson, a Deseret News reporter who covered the event, shared a clip of the moment on Twitter/X:
Kevin Bacon didn’t attend Payson High’s prom last night, but he did leave the students with a video message: “Tonight, it’s not about me, it’s about you. I sent you all to have a great time, and most importantly, be good to each other. And don’t forget to cut loose.” pic.twitter.com/qnQqrOQnew
— Lottie Johnson (@Lotlotej) April 21, 2024
Don’t forget to cut loose!
MORE: Watch Kevin Bacon do the ‘Footloose’ dance to mark end of actor’s strike
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