Silver Follies, golden oldies

Theatre | May 13th, 2015

‘Yee Haw For Hee Haw’ unfolds days of old

Age is just a number, and the Silver Follies know this better than any area performers.

This weekend the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre’s Silver Follies troupe, organized by performers ages 50 and over, performs its 11th annual show “Yee Haw For Hee Haw.” The blast from the past to Roy Clark’s beloved country variety show includes golden oldie favorites, a bit of dancing and a plain, old good time.

“They’re so cheerful and bring such energy and positivity,” music director Sarah Barnum said of the Silver Follies. “They’re like who I want to be when I grow up.”

Based on Clark’s “Hee Haw” show, the Silver Follies’ latest production has been a homegrown effort. Director Bill Lucas took the idea and cranked out a script with jokes both old and new, as well as one-liners and country songs to take the audience back.

From Donna Fargo to Patsy Cline to Hank Williams, the Silver Follies have their hands full of classic country.

“I think it’s going to be very nostalgic,” Lucas said. “A lot of country songs and corny jokes … They’re still pretty damn funny.”

Lucas’s script went through at least five rewrites, and rehearsals began in early April.

But that doesn’t mean the script was set in stone from the get-go.

“I told them, ‘This is your show,’” Lucas said. “They came up with stuff.”

Stuff like WHAT radio station in “Yee Haw For Hee Haw’s” Cow Pie County and the stories of Rindercella and Mugly Other.

“We’ve been laughing our butts off at every rehearsal,” Lucas said. “I don’t know whether [some ideas] were something that was supposed to happen or wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Lucas has enjoyed most of all seeing the growth of the actors in the show, who range in age from 52 to 88.

Barnum has enjoyed being part of the production too.

“They simply enjoy being together,” she said. “One of them said the other day, ‘I didn’t have any friends until I joined Silver Follies.’”

Lucas and Barnum are confident the company has another great show in store for audiences, one that certainly hasn’t gotten old for the Silver Follies.

“It’s hilarious,” Barnum said. “We laugh every time. If we laugh every time at 45 different rehearsals, we can’t wait for an audience to join us.”