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Seniors perform in ‘Follies’
The follies are a fundraiser for the Shenango Valley Center for Aging and Geriatric Health.
HERMITAGE, Pa. — Bonnie Banick hasn’t forgotten the performance.
A woman in her 90s had just tap-danced on stage at Hickory High School during the first year of the Mercer County Senior Follies variety show.
After her dance was over, it was as if her enthusiasm had transcended her age.
“We had to hold on to her to get her backstage,” said Banick, a choreographer and dancer for this year’s follies next weekend.
That’s because the woman couldn’t see very well. But it was like trying to hold onto a 16-year-old, Banick said. “She was so excited.”
You could feel the energy that excitement generated, Banick said.
That’s really the way it is with the senior follies, said Banick and others involved in the production as they met last week at the Sharpsville home of Donna Murray, the follies’ publicity chairwoman.
Some people who participate in the follies, which is for ages 50-plus, have theater background and some don’t.
For those who don’t, some who have never been onstage in their lives, “it’s an opportunity to have their 15 minutes of fame,” said Maureen Murray-Jaklic, the follies’ director and Donna Murray’s daughter.
“We’ve attracted a lot of new people who don’t really have a theatrical background,” said Murray. “But they have a great time.”
Yes, everyone gets into it. Even seamstress/costume designer Karen Donato, they said, traveled to Kentucky to make sure the material she was ordering would be — well, suitable.
Each show’s gotten bigger since that first one five years ago, said Murray. This year, the group estimated, there are easily more than 100 people involved in 33 song-and-dance numbers and skits that will be part of “Broadway Rhythm.”
The oldest person in the production is 93 — line dancer Marsae Morisue.
The follies are a fundraiser for the Shenango Valley Center for Aging and Geriatric Health on Buhl Farm Road in Hermitage. But the show means more than that to its participants.
“We’ve come to know one another through this — people who would have never met,” said Banick. “And that’s a good feeling.”
Why do any old fundraiser, too, like a bake sale or a raffle, said Donna and Michaleen Sasala, an assistant choreographer and dancer.
“Everybody does bake sales,” Donna said.
“But how many old people want to get up there and sing and dance?” said Sasala.
Their inspiration, said Murray, was the Trumbull County SCOPE group’s senior follies, which have been staged for 19 years at Lake-view High School in Cortland.
“We attended one of their shows eight years ago,” said Murray. “And we said: ‘We have talent. We can do that.’”
Murray said the next step was to get sponsorship through the Mercer County Area Agency on Aging.
The agency said yes, and the Shenango Valley’s own version of the SCOPE follies was born.
SCOPE not only provided inspiration, but the Trumbull group even participates in Mercer’s show.
The Step Sisters, an act that will perform in Mercer, is a troupe made up of dancers from SCOPE and the Toast of the Town Tappers. Banick leads Toast of the Town, which meets at the Hermitage senior center and performs in the area. It has also performed in SCOPE’s show.
The Mercer follies has also gotten help from Hickory High drama students with behind-the-scenes tasks such as makeup and props. They’re not only helping the follies, the group said, but they’re gaining some good experience.
“It’s been a perfect match,” Murray said.
All of the follies acts got together Saturday for a run-through — the first one, said Murray-Jaklic. They’ve been practicing individually, many since the last follies ended.
They’re working hard to pull it together for next weekend. They might be expecting some glitches — things don’t always go according to plan up there on stage, said Murray.
Do you say “break a leg” to a dancer?