CHOC Follies get fingers on Van Dyke

Tom Titus

For the past seven years, Newport Beach publicist Gloria Zigner has

built her annual charity extravaganza, the CHOC Follies, into a

glittering, melodic benefit for the Children’s Hospital of Orange

County using volunteer, local, nonprofessional talent.

This year was a little different.

Stepping on stage for a little song and dance in the final act of

the Follies’ “Blast Through the Past” was the familiar figure -- even

now, 40 years after the zenith of his popularity -- of Dick Van Dyke,

who treated the packed audience at the Grove Theater of Anaheim to a

pair of blasts from his own past.

Looking as though he could step right back into “Bye Bye Birdie”

or “Mary Poppins” on a moment’s notice, Van Dyke offered an upbeat

“Put on a Happy Face” from the former show (which he headlined both

on Broadway and on film) and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

from the latter, earning extra applause with his familiar

high-stepping strut.

Credit longtime Follies supporters John and Donna Crean for

inducing Van Dyke to lend his talent (and his huge name draw) to CHOC

Follies VIII. But even without Van Dyke and fellow pro Michelle

Triola (who sang “Time After Time” in the guise of Peggy Lee), the

annual variety show was a treat for the eye and ear.

Director John Vaughan assembled a tight, snappy production along

with musical director Doug Austin and choreographer Lee Martino, who

somehow meshed the gigantic cast together for some tricky musical

numbers, particularly the finale, a whopping rendition of “Let’s Do

the Time Warp Again” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which

spilled out into the audience. Costume designer Lynda Krinke and her

assistants, Mary Engwall and Renee Blais, outdid themselves this year

with some particularly splashy outfits.

This year’s theme, “Blast Through The Past,” via the proverbial

time machine, involved a real blast, back to Cleopatra’s Egypt and

Marie Antoinette’s France -- sort of a staged “History of the World,

Part II” minus Mel Brooks. After intermission, the time trip

progressed (or regressed) to the old West and, finally, to a “Time

Warp” involving the likes of Gloria Swanson, Lizzie Borden, Typhoid

Mary, Colonel Sanders, Mata Hari, Ethel Merman, Bonnie and Clyde,

Joan of Arc, Lady MacBeth, Nero, Samson and Delilah.

Highlights of the show included Susan Crouse’s stunning Cleopatra,

Anne Manassero’s elegant Marie Antoinette and Bonnie Barchichat’s

Ethel Merman. When they ran out of historical figures, the innovative

CHOC Follies brain trust created some, like Mummy Dearest (Kelly

Crean), Maw Skillet (a “toothless” Camille Attell) and Dances With

Wolf (Tim Bercovitz).

As usual, the CHOC Follies was a vastly entertaining extravaganza,

and it raised a tidy sum for Children’s Hospital. Over the years, the

benefit show has piled up some $2 million for CHOC.

Students to show their stuff at OCC festival

Orange Coast College’s film and video students will screen five

student films at the 2004 Newport Beach Film Festival.

The OCC students’ movies will be on display Sunday, April 18,

beginning at 1 p.m. at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach. The session

will last for 76 minutes and will include “La Cruz,” “A Misinformed

Tragedy,” “Peekaboo,” “TNT” and “Samurai.”

“Twenty student films were submitted for consideration for

screening at the Newport Beach Film Festival,” said Scott Broberg,

OCC’s film and video department coordinator. “These films represent

work by beginning and advanced students.”

Gregg Schwent, founding chief executive and executive director of

the festival -- who also is an OCC graduate -- said, “We are

extremely excited to partner and collaborate with Orange Coast

College this year. OCC’s film/video department is second to none.”

About 1,100 students enroll in OCC’s film and video classes each

semester.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.