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Mercer County seniors prepare for annual show
By jeanne starmack
HERMITAge, pa.
The chorus stood motionless in the middle of the floor, a clump of bright green and bright pink T-shirts.
Chorus director Julie Morris ordered the group to smile.
“Happy: Teeth!” she instructed as they rehearsed the big finish of Act II for the ninth annual Mercer County Senior Follies.
“Happy Together,” the Turtles’ 1967 hit, will end the follies this year. But from the very beginning nine years ago, it’s been a theme that keeps the variety show growing, organizers said last week before the dress rehearsal at the Shenango Valley Senior Community Center on Buhl Farm Drive in Hermitage.
The show involved 40 to 50 people that first year, a number that has grown to more than 100, they said.
“We get new people,” said Donna Murray, the show’s publicity chairwoman. “The reason is that they come to see the show, and they’re thinking, ‘I’d like to be a part of that!’”
To be a part of it, people should be at least 50 years old, though the organizers will let late-40s slide. The oldest person in this year’s show, which, as always, will benefit the senior center’s building campaign, is 87.
People do not have to belong to the senior center to sing and dance their way in. People who live in the area, including those from Ohio, are welcome.
“We’re all good friends,” said Bonnie Banick, the choreographer.
This year, the follies takes a fond look back at three decades of the show “American Bandstand” with “A Tribute to Dick Clark.”
The organizers had chosen “Bandstand” from four or five themes in September, they said. It became a tribute to Clark, the host of the show that ran from 1957 to 1987, when he died in April.
The follies will feature songs from those decades that would have been performed on the show.
They’ll cover music from Motown to Rockabilly to 1980s pop and dances such as the Stroll from the 1950s and The Mashed Potato and The Pony from the 1960s.
The show, which this year is at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 and 2 p.m. Aug. 5, has raised an average of $10,000 a year for the senior center, which still is paying the mortgage on its building.
It promises plenty of surprises this year as in years past, organizers said.
“We surprise them every year,” said Murray.
“Sometimes, we surprise ourselves,” said senior center director Kim Glatfelter.
Tickets are $10 at the door or from cast members. “People say, ‘It’s the best $10 I’ve ever spent,’” said assistant choreographer Michaleen Sasala.