Payson High students celebrate prom with a ‘Footloose’ theme, Kevin Bacon’s return

PAYSON — Saturday morning was busy for many Payson High School students as hundreds of teens helped build kits for actor Kevin Bacon’s charity SixDegrees.

‘You were all just tireless’: Kevin Bacon praises Payson High students as he returns to ‘Footloose’ roots

Just like Bacon’s character in the film “Footloose” danced the night away at prom, so did Payson High School students, celebrating their accomplishment of bringing the actor back to Utah 40 years after the film hit movie theaters.

“It’s really cool to be able to have him actually come and visit the school before (the school) gets torn down,” Amanda Jensen, a junior at Payson High, said.

Jensen couldn’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event. Instead of asking someone from school, she decided to ask her childhood friend Christian Ganiere.

So Bacon wasn’t the only Hollywood star in Payson on Saturday — Ganiere happens to be an actor from California, best known for his role as No. 010 — the predecessor to Millie Bobby Brown’s No. 011 — in the global hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.”

Ganiere, who was homeschooled, said he couldn’t miss out on this opportunity either.

“(Jensen) asked me and I was like, ‘I’ve never been to prom, that’s the coolest thing ever, yes I’ll immediately go,’ ” Ganiere said. He  said he was excited to visit the school where the film was shot.

The Payson High gymnasium was decked out in colorful streamers and bright lights, almost identical to the prom in the film. Students were dressed to the nines ready to dance the night away and celebrated an accomplishment they’d worked on for months.

“I feel like most of (the recognition) goes to the student council because I know they worked their butts off trying to get (Bacon’s) attention. All their work paid off,” Jensen said.

Everybody cut loose: Utah actress recalls experience filming ‘Footloose’