It’s official: Kevin Bacon is coming to Utah. But will he attend this high school’s prom?

Lottie Elizabeth Johnson
·4 min read
Brothers Kevin Bacon, left, and Michael Bacon pose in New York to promote their self-titled album on May 28, 2018. The duo is performing in Lehi, Utah, this summer, just months after the film "Footloose" celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Brothers Kevin Bacon, left, and Michael Bacon pose in New York to promote their self-titled album on May 28, 2018. The duo is performing in Lehi, Utah, this summer, just months after the film "Footloose" celebrated its 40th anniversary. | Christopher Smith

Even after 40 years, “Footloose” is still a big part of Payson High School.

The school in Payson, Utah, is where Kevin Bacon and his fellow “Footloose” stars filmed several scenes during the summer of 1983. Other Utah filming locations included the Geneva Steel mill in Vineyard, which was the site of Bacon’s renowned warehouse dance, and Lehi Mills, where Bacon’s character, Ren McCormack, gets a job.

Stills from the movie are peppered throughout the Payson High School halls, situated above the now-green lockers. And Bacon’s locker is still on display, complete with a “Congrats! You’ve got Kevin Bacon’s locker!” plaque.

Kevin Bacon’s character Ren McCormack’s locker in the film “Footlose” is pictured at Payson High School in Payson on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. The locker has now been memorialized and students are trying to get Kevin Bacon to come to their prom as part of the 40th anniversary of the film, which filmed many of the scenes at the school. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

And since “Footloose” recently celebrated its 40th anniversary — and since the current Payson High School is soon making way for a new building — Payson students have been working year-round to pull off the ultimate send-off: Getting Bacon to attend their high school prom on April 20.

Payson High School still hasn’t received official word on whether Bacon is attending the prom, but Utah is getting at least one visit from the “Footloose” star in the coming months: The actor and his brother, Michael Bacon, will perform in Lehi this summer.

Kevin Bacon is coming to Lehi, Utah

The city of Lehi, the site of several “Footloose” scenes, recently announced in a Facebook post that the Bacon Brothers will headline the Lehi Round-Up concert on June 24 (the concert is just one event in the city’s weeklong summer celebration).

The Bacon siblings have performed their blend of folk, rock, soul and country music everywhere from Japan to established U.S. venues like Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry, according to the duo’s website. The band is releasing its latest album, “Ballad of the Brothers,” on April 19 — which happens to be the day before Payson High School’s prom.

So does the high school still have a shot at getting Bacon to its prom?

Jenny Staheli, Payson High School’s student council adviser, told the Deseret News in an email that the Bacon Brothers’ upcoming concert at the Lehi Round-Up is separate from the high school’s “Bacon to Payson” project — meaning there’s still a chance.

Although Staheli didn’t have any new developments to share, she added that they’re “hoping for something to share soon.”

So will Kevin Bacon come to Payson High School’s prom?

The latest Bacon to Payson development is promising, though: Bacon’s organization, SixDegrees, has been “super interested” in working with Payson High School, Staheli previously told the Deseret News.

As part of the 40th anniversary “Footloose” celebrations, the organization hopes to create 40,000 humanitarian kits — and it wants Utah to contribute 5,000 of those kits.

A sign inside actor Kevin Bacon’s character Ren McCormack’s locker from the film “Footlose” is pictured at Payson High School in Payson on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. The locker has now been memorialized and students are trying to get Bacon to come to their prom as part of the 40th anniversary of the film, which filmed many of the scenes at the school. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

So on the morning of April 20 — the day of Payson High School’s prom — members of Bacon’s organization will be at the high school putting together kits with the students.

“We want to have fun with this, but we also want to do something good if we could, and we feel like this is a really great opportunity for that,” Staheli previously told the Deseret News. “And you just never know where Kevin Bacon might show up. You just never know.”