Home Contact Information Photo Galleries   • 2000-2009   • 1999   • 1998   • 1997   • 1996   • 1995   • 1994   • 1993   • 1992   • 1991   • 1990   • 1980-1989   • 1970-1979   • 1960-1969   • 1950-1959   • 1949   • 1948   1991 The Greatest (One-Ring) Show on Earth! The Forty-Fourth Year: May 17 and 18, 1991 Steering Committee Chairman: Doug Hunt Steering Committee Vice-Chairman: Bob Rector Steering Committee Treasurer: Tony Lucarelli Producer: Tony Lucarelli Director/Writer: Jill Benone Musical Director: Steve Hill Choreographer: Melinda Prentice Singers’ Rehearsal Accompanist: Lynn Nickel Set Concept Ken Gray Bleacher Chairman: Greg Galletly Bleachers: Mike Brown Grandstands and GCC Theatre Guild Student Technicians By Jill Benone: This show, a prime example of community involvement, was a one-time-only "innovation born of desperation caused by reconstruction". Through the efforts of Steering Committeeeman Greg Galletly, the Glendale Kiwanis Club donated the bleacher construction charge, saving Follies a Steering Committee estimate of $1,900.00 through XXX". The Glendale College Auditorium was in the process of renovation and the house was a big, empty, echoing cavern torn down to its dirt floor. I wrote a show in the round, with the audience seated onstage. The Steering Committee, skeptical about the logistics of this show, inquired about moving Follies to other venues (Wilson, GHS), only to find my warnings about the costs and technical facilities was true. I believed if Follies ever moved from the GCC stage, it would not be back. On the Monday before opening, I received a call from the Glendale Fire Department, who had received a complaint about safety, and asked to review the bleachers for fire hazard. I called Greg Galletly, who came through once again. He and I met the Fire Captain onstage with a representative of the company in charge of the auditorium construction. No one from GCC administration was there. No one identified as having made the complaint was there. The Fire Captain and his crew noted that all fire regulations had been properly observed. The captain said something to Greg about not wanting anything to happen to Fathers’ Follies. The show was, literally, theatre-in-the-round, as the set was a one-ring circus. The audience entered through the west hall of the GCC Auditorium Building, was ushered down the hall, through the basement, past the dressing and make-up rooms emerging onstage, where they sat in bleachers for the three performances of The Greatest (One-Ring) Show on Earth. The circus boasted a Ringmaster, a Bearded Lady who is loved by the Strong Man, a bareback rider, a Kabuki Horse (head and tail), tumbling clowns, a magician, a "flying" acrobat, and a Bear, in addition to the singing and dancing choruses. International jewel thieves were apprehended by the circus folk in the midst of a performance. The chase culminated with three circles of people who ran clock-wise and counter-clock wise to each other. This scene could only happen as the audience was seated in the round, slightly higher than the performers, and thus could see the opposing circles running. It worked. Despite the Steering Committee’s initial concern, it was a great success, and several performers said it was their favorite show. By this time, the PTA was confidently projecting an annual contribtion of $5,000 per year from the Follies!