On Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, close to 3000 fans of the classic 1986 John Hughes comedy, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, convened on Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago, Illinois for a live re-creation of the celebrated “Twist and Shout” parade scene from the original film. The event provided a rousing finale to the 30th Anniversary “Ferris Fest” celebration events that took place that weekend.

With look-alikes of Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron in attendance, the Chicago crowd took part in a spot-on re-enactment of the parade singing performances and dance routines of “Danke Schoen” and “Twist and Shout.” For Lee Ann Marie, the Dance Production Director, it was like deja vu all over again.  30 years prior, Lee Ann had been one of the original Fräulein performers in the film and she was excited to return with six talented Fräulein-costumed dancers to re-create the iconic parade performance. Every single move, step, turn, and high kick was carefully arranged using only the movie’s dance scene as their guide.

Beyond the Marquee’s Creative Director, Steve Czarnecki, flew in to Chicago with the BTM crew and had unlimited access to all of the “Ferris Fest” locations, events, cast members, and VIP attendees throughout the weekend. A self-proclaimed uber-fan of John Hughes films and Ferris Bueller, Steve was thrilled to be on hand to archive all of the memorable moments that made up the 30th Anniversary celebration. It was an amazing honor and highlight for the BTM crew to produce and film the “Twist & Shout” homage dance routine as seen in the video above and we think it’s probably the biggest shoot we’ve directed yet!

Scroll down the page after the jump to learn some fun facts about the parade re-creation and check out some great pics from the event.

PLUS, be sure to visit Beyond the Marquee next week as we’ll be rolling out our 3-part “Ferris Fest” weekend recap videos that put you right in with the fans and cast who came out to Chicago to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film. Filled with special events, filming locations, VIP guests, exclusive interviews, and more, you will not want to miss the excitement!

The Ferris Fest weekend scene re-creation actors; (L to R) Cameron Frye (Derrick Hill), Ferris Bueller (Ryan Stajmiger) and Sloane Peterson (Erin Oechsel)

Fun Facts

An event as big as re-creating the famed parade dance routine from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off could not have happened without a great amount of participation from several individuals and organizations throughout Chicagoland.  Here are some fun facts about how the routine came back to life beat-for-beat 30 years later:

* Chicago’s own famed South Shore Drill Team performed during the ‘Twist and Shout’ LIVE parade re-creation.  In 1986, the team was only in its fifth year of existence when they performed for the original parade sequence in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Even though only a portion of their iconic synchronized moves were seen in the film, the current generation of SSDT performed the ENTIRE original full-length routine that had been prepared and performed for when the cameras rolled on the film. Check out the South Shore Drill Team at their official website.

* Lee Ann Marie joined the “Ferris Fest” team as Dance Production Director. Lee Ann had been a professional dancer for six years in the 80’s before being cast as a dancing Fräulein on the parade float during the “Twist and Shout” sequence in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which remains one of her favorite credits to this day. In the film, Lee Ann is the blonde Fräulein in the center immediately behind Matthew Broderick. Other highlights in her career include being a pro cheerleader for both the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls and co-starring and dancing in the band Survivor’s #1 MTV video, “I Can’t Hold Back”. Lee Ann now manages her own company, Lee Ann Marie Productions (www.leeannmarieproductions.com) and was very excited by the prospect of reinventing the choreography for the ‘Twist and Shout’ parade re-creation. 

* Hank Fiene with ABC Parade Floats was one of the original designers and builders of the parade float used in the 1986 film that Ferris Bueller and the Fräulein dancers Twisted and Shouted upon. 30 years later, Hank worked with Ferris Fest to re-build the replica 30 x 8 ft float, based off the original designs from the classic film.

* Remember when Ferris’ dad heard the parade music from his office and did his own little dance? Lyman Ward, the actor who played Ferris’ father, attended the “Twist & Shout” parade re-creation and has a quick cameo in the video above.

* The dancing maintenance crew you see in the updated video were shot on the fly (and with no accompanying music) as our BTM crew waited for their Taxi, shortly after arriving at the Chicago airport. The 2 workers on the lift at Ohare Airport were extremely good-sports when we explained to them that we needed a quick insert shot of dancing construction workers for a re-creation video we were producing for Ferris Fest.

* Daley Plaza (that’s where they got that Picasso), was used as the location for the Ferris dance scene re-creation and has also been used as a filming location for several Chicago-based movies — most notably, The Blues Brothers (1980) and The Fugitive (1993). 

* Ryan Stajmiger, who got his first chance to cosplay as Ferris Bueller during the 30th Anniversary re-creation, has yet to meet Matthew Broderick.  However, his uncanny resemblance to the actor has earned him roles in stage productions that Matthew has had a part in on Broadway including playing Leo in “The Producers” and Eugene Morris Jerome in “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (Broderick’s first Broadway gig). Ryan was thrilled to have the chance to step into a character that’s so universally loved by fans around the world.

Some of the cast from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off who were on hand for the weekend. (L to R) Larry “Flash Jenkins (Garage Attendant), Jonathan Schmock (“Maitre’d of Chez Quis”) , Lyman Ward (Ferris’ Dad), Cindy Pickett (Ferris’ Mom), Edie McClurg (Grace the Secretary).

Dance Production Director; Lee Ann Marie & The Fräuleins

This gentleman was one of the original featured extras from the 1986 movie and he returned to celebrate ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ 30 years later at the parade re-creation. This time he brought his family with him.  He can be seen in our video holding a screen-grab of himself from the film.

Beyond the Marquee Creative Director, Steve Czarnecki, takes a moment for a fun pic with the Ferris Bueller parade re-creation cast, during Ferris Fest 2016.

Be sure to check out www.FerrisFest.com for all the incredible details of events and invited guests that were part of the big “Ferris Fest” celebration that took place in Chicago, Illinois!

Stay tuned to BeyondTheMarquee.com and BeyondtheMarqueeShow on YouTube for great exclusives on your favorite movies and television shows.

Check out below, the Ferris Fest teaser videos that we also helped to create, with some of the original cast from the movie…