Several golf-loving Redmond dwellers and neighbors are tying spoofs of their favorite sport into a musical-comedy-burlesque show called The Bear Creek Follies.
Tickets ($65) go on sale to the public Sept. 1, with performances scheduled for Oct. 16-18 at The Bear Creek Country Club, 13737 202nd Ave. NE in Woodinville. Each evening begins with no-host cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and a sit-down dinner of steak, chicken or fish, followed by the follies at 8 p.m. Net proceeds will go to Northwest Behavioral Associates.
Recently rehearsing at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, Joe Ganz, an attorney who lives in Redmond, joked that he was “type-cast” as a slick lawyer in a golf-laced parody of the song “Razzle Dazzle” from the Broadway musical “Chicago.”
Katie Sikorra, a Redmond resident who may be familiar as a cantor and sanctuary choir member at St. Jude Catholic Church, teaches music at the Lake Washington School District’s Frost Elementary in Kirkland and will sing a duet from “Phantom of the Opera,” again with a twist on golf. You can hear a snip of that performance on The Bear Creek Follies Web site, http://bcfollies.innuitydirect.com.
Elaine Vona, costume design lead for The Bear Creek Follies, heads the Eastside Bridge Center in Redmond.
Another notable participant is Redmond’s Bob Yankis, a regular in regional ballroom dance competitions. In The Bear Creek Follies, he’ll do his best impression of Fred Astaire, partnered with an imposing male partner dressed as Ginger Rogers.
It might be hard to find high heels in men’s size 14, the cast members discussed amongst themselves.
But “there are some good deals for cross-dressers on eBay,” quipped Carole Yager, director of The Bear Creek Follies.
The show’s producer, Dean Haugen, lives in the Bear Creek neighborhood of Woodinville but noted, “My impression is that most of the folks in this area associate more with Redmond businesses and news than Woodinville. I know that is the case with me and my friends.”
Describing The Bear Creek Follies, Haugen said the show was created “just for the fun of it and to generate a sense of community involvement. … We are describing the show as ‘swingin,’ singin’ and a little bit naughty.'”
Though most cast members are not professional entertainers, there’s a “surprising level of talent,” Haugen added. “The show runs about one hour and 15 minutes — without audience laughter and applause.”
With those elements, the show is “easily two hours and 15 minutes,” Ganz pitched in.
The best thing about The Bear Creek Follies, according to Yankis, “is a chance for a person who’d ‘never do this in a million years'” to break out of their comfort zone and do something a little wacky.
Yankis said he was shy as a student and didn’t learn to dance until he was an adult “so I wouldn’t be embarrassed at socials at Bear Creek. I’ve always respected guys and gals who were creative … the people here are great … and it really gives me a chance to express myself through a sport and for myself.”
To reserve tickets for The Bear Creek Follies, call (425) 883-4770 extension 234.
