Volunteers dance for the children

Elia Powers

It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, and pockets of dancers in street

clothes are fine-tuning their turns and learning their stage cues.

A former Laker Girl glides across the floor. An attorney kneels

and twirls his wrists frantically. A chiropractor rushes to the

middle of the room to strike his final pose.

They are all dancing to Cole Porter’s ditty “It’s De-Lovely” --

trying to look delightful while pushing themselves to “de limit.”

“It’s amazing how people who haven’t sung for years, or who don’t

feel comfortable at first, loosen up right away in this setting,”

said CHOC Follies Executive Director Gloria Zigner.

This weekend, more than 100 cast members will put the pieces

together and perform in CHOC Follies IX, dubbed “CHOC AHOY! Musical

Hijinks on the High Seas.” The show runs at 8 p.m. Friday and at 2

and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Grove of Anaheim.

Since its inception, the annual musical has raised about $2.5

million for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Foundation For

Children, Zigner said.

Follies volunteers collect funds through ticket sales and

sponsorships, and every performer is required to raise at least $500

through those methods.

For the past month and a half, the entire cast has rehearsed on

Saturdays in a one-story building on the corner of Bristol Street and

Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. The cast splits into three groups

for one weekly weekday rehearsal.

Dale Skiles, one of three Follies co-chairs, said more than a

third of those involved in the production this year are making their

debut.

Cast members went through auditions in late January.

More than 30 of those selected are Newport-Mesa residents.

Like Randy Fine, president of his own telecommunications company.

Or Angela Willhite, the former Laker Girl who was motivated to join

the fundraising effort because of her past involvement with pediatric

cystic fibrosis causes.

Skiles said the talent pool improves every year.

“When we started the show eight years ago, recruiting was much

harder,” she said. “Now we are turning people away at the auditions.”

Joe Modica and Juliet Fischer-Schulein had no reason to be worried

about making the cut.

Modica, a choir teacher at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, has

one of the leading singing roles in the production -- as Bones

McGraw, the Pirate King. Modica, a Newport Beach resident, said an

experience with Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, N.Y., remains close

to his heart.

When he was 5 years old, living in upstate New York, he was

diagnosed with chicken pox and later with Reye’s Syndrome, a disease

that attacks major body organs. He was admitted to the hospital and

was treated along with two young girls, both of whom died of the

disease. Modica said doctors told his parents he was unlikely to

survive.

“Somehow, a miracle occurred, and through some great work by

doctors, I was saved,” he said. “This is a small way I can give back

to CHOC.”

Modica’s wife, Tiffany Modica, is the daughter of CHOC Follies

co-chair Sandy Segerstrom. All three are in the production. Leslie

Cancellieri is the third event co-chair.

For Fischer-Schulein, a Costa Mesa resident, the performance is a

chance to dust off her dancing shoes. She spent five years during her

20s as a dancer with the Rockettes in New York. And she performed in

Broadway shows such as “Chicago.”

Fischer-Schulein gave birth eight months ago, forcing her to scale

back her dancing. She took occasional ballet lessons during her

pregnancy, and now has the chance to dance for a cause.

“When you have a child, helping children becomes more important,”

she said.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.