‘The Roaring 20’s Red Garter Revue’

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UTICA — The Follies Theatre in downtown Utica is taking audiences on a wild ride back to the days of prohibition, backroom gin, flappers and gun molls when the curtain goes up on the hybrid Speakeasy and Burlesque show, “The Roaring 20’s Red Garter Revue.”

Audience members will be met by the cast on the street as they arrive to receive the password to gain entry into the backroom speakeasy. Once everyone is settled in, the audience is briefed on what to do in case of a raid (by “da coppers”), and then the show kicks into high gear with song, dance, and a liberal dose of bawdy Burlesque humor.

Producer David A. Kuester said, “The star of this production is the comedy. Naturally, there is the high-energy song and dance, but the original Burlesque sketches are just a scream. We’ve done this show before, and so many of our audiences always said it was their favorite for flat-out laughs. And frankly, it’s hard to tell sometimes who’s having more fun—the cast or the audience!”

Cast members agree. “This show is continually full of surprises,” said Grace Lethiot, one of the five performers. “Obviously the sketches are scripted, but due to the ad-lib nature of the old Burlesque skits, sometimes we stray off script — way off — until one of us is taken by surprise and just can’t help but laugh out loud at the silliness of the situation!”

In addition to Lethiot, the show features Don Grant Zellmer, Norm Engstrom, Eric Chambliss, and Erin Gibson. All five of these performers starred in the “Roaring 20’s Red Garter Revue” two years ago in Ottawa. Zellmer said, “The show’s been ‘tweaked’ and revamped. We developed new sketches, some new songs, and it seems to be faster moving and even wilder than before.”

Zellmer knows exactly what to expect of “The Red Garter” as he created the revue in Peoria in 1984 where it became that city’s longest-running musical-comedy revue. Since then, he has mounted productions of it in other venues around the country, many times appearing in it as well. “It’s evolved,” he says, “in many ways. We’re lucky at the Follies Theatre to have a cast of triple-threat performers who are accomplished at dancing and singing — but then aren’t afraid to tackle this Burlesque material and go in for every laugh.”

The audience is actually a big part of “The Roaring 20’s Red Garter Revue” as the performers spend much time in the crowd singing, joking, and a few lucky members of the crowd may even be brought to the stage for a Charleston contest to win — what else? — a red garter of their own. Cast member Eric Chambliss commented, “The one thing an audience for ‘The Red Garter’ can expect is to expect anything!”

Show times through Sept. 6 are 8 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Follies Theatre located in downtown Utica. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling the Follies Theatre Box Office at (815) 667-7008 daily except Mondays.

Dinner theatre packages are available with participating Utica area restaurants, and group rates are available for parties of 20 or more. More information is available at www.folliestheatre.com.

Wednesday evenings will feature a return of the Follies Theatre’s melodrama “Run To The Roundhouse, Nellie! (He Can’t Corner You There!)” beginning mid-June for an open-ended run.

The Follies Theatre opened it’s doors in July of 2008, and “The Roaring 20’s Red Garter Revue” is the fifth show presented at the venue, the area’s only full-time live professional theatre.