Kyle Magin
Bonanza Staff Writer
March 28, 2008
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Flappers, dragged-out nurses, church choirs and Macho men seem strange bedfellows. But, all those sorts of characters will be in one place next week at the annual Incline Village Star Follies.
The yearly lip sync and dance performance is scheduled for two shows next week and features a variety of numbers from a variety of acts.
Star Follies features a cast of adults and students from the Incline/Crystal Bay area and proceeds from the show's tickets go to support the Incline public schools and the Incline Schools Academic Excellence Foundation.
"It's one of my favorite community events," said Ron Stichter, who serves as a coordinator for the show and serves on the Follies Board.
Stichter has been active in Follies for its first eight years and is busy with preparations for this year's ninth installment.
He met his fiancee, JoDee Hub, in the show two years ago and said some of his favorite Follies moments center around the students from the Incline schools who perform in the show.
"I love watching the kids who haven't done it before," Stichter said. "They are a little nervous at first but you see as the shows go on they gain confidence, and they have a blast."
This year's Follies is entitled "Putting it Together," which is the name of one of the all-cast (more than 100 people all together) acts.
And putting it together is exactly what Kathie Goldberg, one of the show's coordinators, has been doing for the last few months. From e-mailing the show's cast to planing rehearsal times to making sure the cast is fed at the shows, she is involved in the show's details daily.
Goldberg is now in her eighth year with the show and said that while organizing can be difficult, it depends on the cast.
"Some of the organization parts are easier because I can use the same things I did in previous years. But it depends a lot on the cast, some years I'll get drama queens and it's a headache," Goldberg said.
The rewards from the show go beyond supporting the schools, though.
"A big reason why I enjoy it is that the people who are in it get so much out of it. I've talked to so many people who tell me they loved it because of all the new friends they make and the people they get to meet," Goldberg said.
To facilitate all of this fun, there is a lot of work involved.
Stichter, along with Goldberg and the show's choreographer, Don Hertel, begin planning the next year's Follies as soon as the production wraps up each spring.
"The three of us get together to critique the show and decide what works and what doesn't and how things can be better," Stichter said. "We've got to a point where things work well and we don't have to change much, there is still some last minute panic, but nothing crazy."
Stichter said his favorite glitch in the show came a few years ago when the sound system at the Cal-Neva Lodge went out during a number. Instead of pausing or waiting for the sound to re-adjust, the cast of that particular number sang through the rest of the song.
There are four shows scheduled for next week, two apiece at 6 and 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Cal-Neva Lodge's Frank Sinatra Celebrity Room. Tickets are available at The Potlatch in the Raley's Shopping Center, $25 for general seating, $35 for seating at the wings of the theater and $50 for premier seating close to the stage.
