The Follies Theatre provided the following news release:

YORKVILLE--High-energy singing, dancing, and comedy will heat up the Follies Theatre’s stage this summer, starting Saturday, June 9, with the hit musical-comedy revue, “Lost In The 50’s.”

Follies Producers Don Grant Zellmer and David Kuester have produced this show in other venues and state that the show is a celebration of the music of the 1950’s, as well as the iconic and innocent fun of the era. Starring a cast of five performers, the show, according to Zellmer, “Starts in high gear and doesn’t really let up until the last note of the last song.”

With tight harmonies and tunes that are classic 50’s, to the comedy of a beach party that incorporates songs into the just-for-laughs story line, and even a a trip to the drive-in movies, “Lost In The 50’s” is what the producers describe as a “total feel-good show.” “Lost In The 50’s” features over two dozen hits from the era, including “Yackety Yack,” “Charlie Brown,” “Venus,” “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?,” “Johnny Angel,” “Earth Angel,” “Little Darlin’,“and many more. Much of the music is connected with dialogue and hilarious situations that leads the audience through the story of romance in the 50’s.

“We recognize," said Kuester, “that much of the comedy is silly stuff, but when connected to songs that are pretty silly, too, such as ‘Yackety Yack,’ it makes for a blast of a little show.”

While “Lost In The 50’s” celebrates the sounds of the 1950’s, the show also features a liberal amount of comedy, in particular in the form of a drive-in movie performed live on stage with the cast as well as audience volunteers. Written expressly for this Follies Theatre production of “Lost In The 50’s,” the script is a loving valentine to the cheesy sci-fi thrillers of the era, in a very “Ed Wood-esque” style.” Three audience volunteers are given “stock characters” (the misunderstood hoodlum boyfriend, the pompous mayor, the adoring girlfriend), along with a script that contains only three lines each, which each member able to use only those three responses, making for an unpredictable and unique “movie” at each performance.

“Lost In The 50’s” stars Don Grant Zellmer, Kevin Gumm, Leslie Smith, Erin Van Vactor, and Blythe Gilio.

Van Vactor, who has performed this show before with the Follies at other locations, said, “This show is a workout! We are in perpetual motion, it seems, with choreography and nuances to every single number--as well as the comedy bits. It’s one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve had the pleasure to do--and this cast is awesome.”

“Lost In The 50’s” opens Saturday, June 9, and plays every Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through July. More information is available on line at www.folliestheatre.com, and reservations can be made by calling the Follies Theatre Box Office at (630) 385-2535.