(Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group) Follies cast members Amanda Faas (left) and Katy Richter, both of Cedar Rapids, shower Tracy Price of Cedar Rapids with money, in keeping with this year's theme, "Viva Las Vegas." The annual Broadway-style revue will be performed July 10, 11, 17 and 18, 2010, at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in Cedar Falls.

By Diana Nollen

Follies organizers took a gamble last year on moving the long-standing March crowd-pleaser to another town at another time of year.

The prospect was a little dicey. But it paid off well enough that they’re heading back to Cedar Falls this summer with a show cashing in on what they learned last summer.

Follies 2010: “Viva Las Vegas” is rolling into the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center for two weekends, July 10 to 18, 2010. With two shows on Saturdays and matinees each Sunday, they’ll rack up six performances.

Audiences will see glamorous showgirls, gamblers, Elvis impersonators, a frontier saloon and the colorful night life along the city’s Strip. They’ll also hear music from some of the city’s legendary performers, including the Follies Kids singing Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen,” a little Sammy Davis Jr., Captain and Tennille, Donny and Marie, Siegfried and Roy, Penn and Teller and showbiz show tunes.  And it wouldn’t be the Follies without dazzling dance extravaganzas.

The ensemble of about 40 adults includes new faces as well as the familiar sounds of area residents Tina Monroe, Doug Jackson, Lori Ferguson and Tracy Price. The show also features 19 children, 15 instrumentalists and from the Orchestra Iowa staff, music director Tim Hankewich and executive director Robert Massey.

Damon Cole, director and music director for the Follies, credits Orchestra Iowa’s director with suggesting the theme.

Tin Hankewich, Orchestra Iowa music director. Follies performer

Hankewich, 42, of Cedar Rapids, says the idea grew out of last year’s Follies experience in Cedar Falls.

“We found that the buses and cast stayed at the casino to have dinner before or after the shows and do some gambling. I figured if that’s the case, why not have a Las Vegas theme to lure those bus tours back so they can create a larger theme for themselves,” he says.

The brainstorming sessions don’t always go that quickly and smoothly.

“We usually do sit around a table and make our brains hurt with titles (to consider),” Cole says.

He’s been with the production almost from its beginnings as a fundraiser for the Cedar Rapids

Damon Cole, Follies director

Symphony, recently renamed Orchestra Iowa. Out of 31 Follies, Cole is working on his 29th show. The Broadway-style revues have raised more than $1 million for the orchestra over the years.

After the Paramount flooded in 2008, organizers explored various venues, then took the show on the road to Gallagher-Bluedorn for one weekend in the summer, instead of two weekends at the end of winter.

Attendance did drop off, but 24 buses still came and 30 are booked so far this year, says Bette Eells, 67, of Cedar Rapids, who is in her 13th year as Follies executive director. She’s been with the show for 21 years, first as a performer for 12 years, with some overlap as she moved into her administrative capacity.

Bette Eells, Follies producer

Last year’s venture was more of “break-even” affair than a fundraiser, Eells says. “We call it a ‘friend-raising’ year. It was a rebuilding year because of our losses. We’re still recovering — we’ve had to rebuild all the costumes.”

Area schools and businesses, such as Hope’s Bridal Boutique in Atkins, have donated or loaned costumes, which Eells says has been “a lifesaver” for Follies, known for its flashy attire and backdrops.

Budget for this year’s event runs between $95,000 and $98,000, Eells says, and she’s hoping that by adding more performances, they’ll start to see some fundraising capabilities again.

“In the past, the second weekend was always the profit-making weekend,” she says. “So this year, that will be our profit. When I first started, we were giving $60,000 to $70,000 to the orchestra from our profit.”

While they’re all looking forward to returning to a renovated Paramount someday, Eells and Cole are quick to sing the praises of their new home-away-from-home on the University of Northern Iowa stage.

“It’s very fine,” Eells says. “It’s a beautiful facility. The theater has all the amenities a stage performer would want. The staff and crew there are wonderful to work with.”

“I love that venue,” Cole says. “Gallagher-Bluedorn is probably the best theater in Iowa. It’s just amazing — the acoustics, the house, the stage is huge, the (orchestra) pit is huge. It’s so much fun to perform there. I love it. I think the cast gets a huge kick out of performing on that stage. The staff is amazing; they’ve bent over backwards to help us.”

They’ve also enjoyed having donated rehearsal space in a former store at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, with enough space to keep their costumes and stair units handy for rehearsals.

It would have been easy to fold after the flood, but organizers are determined to keep the Follies tradition alive.

“A lot of people in the community have enjoyed participating in it for so long,” Hankewich says. “To put a production of this magnitude together takes an incredible love of the tradition. … Our goal is to make it survive until it can return to the Paramount.”

 ARTS EXTRA

What: Orchestra Iowa presents Follies 2010: “Viva Las Vegas”

When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. July 10 and 17; 2 p.m. July 11 and 18, 2010

Where: Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8392 University Ave., Cedar Falls

Tickets: $14 to $35 at UNItix locations in Gallagher-Bluedorn and McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, (319) 273-4849, www.unitix.uni.edu or the Orchestra Iowa Ticket Office, 119 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, (319) 366-8203 or 1-(800) 369-8863

Information: www.orchestraiowa.org