THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501250141
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The showoffs and cutups at Great Bridge High School will be at it again Tuesday - the teachers, not the students.
In order to raise touring money for the school's chorus, the school choral department, under the direction of Carolyn Myers, will present its annual ``Faculty Follies.''
In past follies, teachers have rolled up their sleeves and let down their hair to perform on stage in front of appreciative students, parents and colleagues, Myers said.
``This gives the students a chance to see their teachers in a different light,'' she explained. ``And the teachers have a ball doing it. This year, we will use close to 50 faculty and administration personnel.''
Myers comes up with the script and song parodies each year. One year, Myers wrote ``Somewhere Over the Causeway,'' a lampoon of the MGM classic film, ``The Wizard of Oz,'' highlighted by hilarious references to Chesapeake and Great Bridge High School.
This year's 8 p.m. production, called ``Wildcats on the Roof,'' will offer several send-ups of songs from the Broadway hit ``Fiddler on the Roof.''
``We plan to do a few spoofs on the songs,'' Myers said. ``A group of teachers who work out of portable classrooms will sing `If I Had a Portable,' a bunch of math teachers will sing `Math-Maker,' and a group of disgruntled, burned-out teachers will perform `First Bell, Second Bell.' You get the idea. The story is about a group of Great Bridge High teachers or Wildcats on the roof of the school.''
And in keeping with the ``Fiddler. . . '' theme, the show will be narrated by a Tevye type character played by English teacher Charles Conover.
``The basic plot is nonsense,'' she said with a laugh. ``You know, I create these songs and shows while waiting for the (Great Bridge) bridge to close. It gives me something to do while waiting in traffic.''
In keeping with the show's anything-goes attitude, though, the Follies will also be enlivened with parodies of songs by the Drifters and Jimi Hendrix.
``We'll throw in those other songs just to confuse everybody,'' Myers said. ``It's just our usual hodgepodge of songs and ideas.''
If a good-natured spoof by the Great Bridge High faculty isn't enough, Myers said the evening also will offer performances by the school's chorus members along with upscale desserts baked by the choral parents.
``Our Follies will be preceded by what we like to call our `Confectionary Cabaret,' '' Myers said.
Taking place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the school's commons area, the ``Confectionary Cabaret'' will feature tap dancing, folk singing, country crooning and other performances from members of the Great Bridge High School Chorus.
Myers said the student performances will be sweetened by offerings of cheesecake, eclairs, tarts and other pastries created by the choral parents. The desserts will be enhanced by gourmet coffee, compliments of Gloria Jean's Beans at Greenbrier Mall. ILLUSTRATION: WHAT & WHERE
What: ``Wildcats On the Roof,'' this year's Great Bridge High
School ``Faculty Follies'' offering.
Where: Great Bridge High auditorium.
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday.
Also: Preceding the Follies will be the ``Confectionary Cabaret''
from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the school's commons area.
Tickets: To either the Follies or Cabaret are $3 in advance and
$3.50 the night of the show. Combo tickets for both events are $5 in
advance and $5.50 the night of the show.
Information: Call Carolyn Myers at the school, 482-5191, or at
her home, 547-7008.
by CNB