Home Contact Information Photo Galleries   • 2000-2009   • 1990-1999   • 1980-1989   • 1970-1979   • 1960-1969   • 1959   • 1958   • 1957   • 1956   • 1955   • 1954   • 1953   • 1952   • 1951   • 1950   • 1949   • 1948   1959 Rocket Ship to Mars The Twelfth Year: March, 1959 Chairman: Allen Zeltzer Director: John Smith Script: Walt Cash Music: Bob Adolphe and Orchestra* Choreographer: Beth Allen Poster/Program Art: Craig Pinero By Jill Benone: 1959 was Joe Sauers’ farewell to the show he had help create and nurture. In the Ancient Lovely scene, the Rin-Tin-Tin theme music was played, and the entire cast shouted “Yo. Rinty!” Rin-Tin-Tin was an immensely popular TV show, and Sauers was a supporting lead – the first lead was a dog.) This was the only time Sauers allowed Follies to acknowledge his professional status and considerable reputation. Long-time orchestra leader Bob Adolphe, who would be the music man for twenty years, is listed in the program. Within two years, the credit will read “Bob Adolphe and the Fathers’ Follies Orchestra”. Rocket Ship was in eighteen scenes, with many set changes. According to the program, the first scene was on Mars, and the second scene was a launch control center, with a dropped movie screen showing a rocket ship taking off. The production notes indicate the scenes were reversed. The show moved between Mars, a “secret hideaway” in Verdugo Woodlands, a PTA meeting, and the office of principal Don Fiske, with a stop-over on “Cloud Nine”, inhabited by an angel. Oh, yes, there seem to have some minions of the law running around, too. The show ends with Scene XVIII titled “The Finale”. The Can-Can is not specifically mentioned. Reported by Mrs. Bride Twomey, Historian Once again in March, the fathers. . . gave a fine performance in Fathers’ Follies. In spite of pouring rain, they played to a large and enthusiastic audience. Neither rain nor storm could keep our children away from the sight of a Father as a chorus girl. INTERLUDE: Scripts by Walter Cash and Others By 1959, Sauers was on the point of bowing out, and as Larry Clemmons and Alden Waite had already graduated, the show was in need of a strong overseer. Walter Cash wrote five scripts produced for a total thirteen times from 1959 through 1971, recycled and updated as necessary for topical references. The Cash scripts were the first to present the show in book format. The scripts clearly delineate sets, set pieces, and technical elements. The shows now had titles, and a cohesive story, although each scene is still numbered and titled separately. The five Cash scripts were: Rocket Ship to Mars “To the Moon and Mars”): 1959, 1965, 1970 Around the World in 80 Days (“Hot Air Balloon”): 1960, 1966 A Trip to West Fairyland (“Nurseryland Fantasy”): 1961, 1967, 1970 The Great Fall Festival Heist (“Snoopy”): 1962, 1968, 1973 The Science Fair (“The Time Machine”): 1963, 1969 and The Vanishing Verdugo Vase (“Pirates”) by Shirley Hess and Beverly Gates: 1964, 1972 Each rewritten script had a different working title, indicated above. To add to the confusion, Ancient Lovelies who performed in them used shortened names: “Alice”, “Pirates”, “Snoopy” and so forth. When the scripts were re-used, scenes were deleted and/or changed. The hot air balloon script was originally produced the year the motion picture Around the World in 80 Days was released and thus was so titled. “West Fairyland”, falling victim to the rise of political correctness, became “Nurseryland”. These scripts are still eminent usable. They are cleverly written, and the staging can be easily adapted to a simpler format.