'Fabulous Follies' proves a delight for old, young

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Very much alive and well and marking 15 years on the stage of the historic Plaza Theater in Palm Springs is the invigorating and unforgettable "Fabulous Palm Springs Follies."

With its amazing cast of super-talented performers, ranging from 57 to 82 years old, it's one of the most lively and sparklingly youthful shows you'll ever see.

The productions are always big, but this one — three hours long but leaving you clapping and shouting for more — is an extra-spectacular celebration of life.

Continually filled with memories of the past — especially the 1930s and '40s with a new patriotic nod to WWII in every show — it also boggles your mind that there is still so much energy in these top-notch performers, who have sung and danced alongside entertainment's greatest throughout much of the 20th century.

The sets, the lighting and the costumes will knock your socks off — as it has knocked the socks off of almost 3 million people who have seen it over its 15 wonderful years, and, with an entirely new show opening each season, you can be sure that a surprising percentage of its annual audience (close to 200,000) are viewers who just keep coming back.

The staff alone consists of more than 150 people, 14 stagehands are needed backstage during each performance to keep changing the variety of innovative sets and 12 backstage dressers are always needed to assist in the numerous costume changes which must sometimes be done in no more than 75 seconds.

The whole thing is mindboggling, and with the professionalism of the singing and dancing and its wonderfully funny, debonair and endearing emcee, Riff Markowitz (who, by the way, is also the mastermind and impresario of this highly successful show), you know when you leave the theater that your money was very well spent. And you can hardly wait to see next year's — or even next season's — new show.

The ladies of the show, regardless of their age (and more than one have been tapping their toes for close to eight decades) are simply gorgeous onstage — and it's not just the Ziegfeld Follies-type costumes of feathers and rhinestones, some of them reaching over 10 feet in diameter, with headdresses almost that tall as well.

Nor is it the fact that the wardrobe each season contains 1,500 pieces, and that just one of these eye-dazzling costumes can cost as much as $35,000.

These beautiful and lovely "senior-citizen" performers grace the stage with such poise and elegance that it's literally jaw-dropping.