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Community Corner

"Charlestown Follies" Set for July 18 Premiere

The idea first started three months ago when a ragtime piano player and a church choir director played and sang show tunes together late one night – alone beneath a dim light -- in a retirement community bar room in Catonsville.

Today nearly 50 Charlestown residents and their grandchildren, as well as staff, are frantically involved in final rehearsals for the “Charlestown Follies,” a two-hour show that opens Friday, July 18, and features 20 comedy skits, song and dance routines and instrumental performances.

“It has been a wild, creative ride,” said Ray Miles, the director of the “Charlestown Follies” who has been a Methodist church music director for the past 50 years. “The biggest challenge has been to integrate comedy routines into song and dance numbers.”

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Miles brings a Bob Fosse-esque enthusiasm for the theater to the rehearsals, which are held twice a week in the Charlestown auditorium. He is adamant that his 35-member chorus enunciate every word they sing and that they emphasize each consonant. He is also a meticulous choreographer.

Ken Kidd, who is Miles’ muse, so-to-speak, plays songs on a special piano in his apartment that produces CDs as he plays them. These CDs are used during rehearsals to help the cast learn their lines and harmonies (Kidd is pictured working on a song arrangement with a cast member).

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The ‘Charlestown Follies” features tap dancers ranging in age from 15 to 87 years old. Musical genres include ragtime, pop, classical and country. There is even a ukulele player who performs, as well as a 12-year-old Catonsville area Girl Scout violinist. ‘Fluffy” the cat also performs.

Miles is using recurring scenes based on the iconic Jackie Gleason “Honeymooners” TV show to link comedy skits to song and dance routines. Professional actor Chuck Dick, who is a noted Jackie Gleason impersonator, plays Ralph Kramden. E.J. Urbas is Alice Kramden and Ed Horak is Norton.

The Kramdens banter with one another about possibly retiring to Charlestown amid non-stop show tunes and skits that are parodies of life. Ralph always ends these interludes with his endearing, “To the moon, Alice! To the moon!”

“We’re giving it our best shot,” said Miles. “We hope people like the show.”

The “Charlestown Follies” performances will be held Friday, July 18, at 2 p.m.; Saturday July 19 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, July 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets for the Friday performance are $4. Tickets for the Saturday and Sunday performances are $5.

Proceeds benefit the Charlestown Little Theater Company and Charlestown Staff Appreciation Fund. Call 301-412-9917 for more information.

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