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Arts and Entertainment

It’s your move, Follies!

Annual Snowdown show brought the totally inappropriate comedy
The chorus line – Clara Burnett, Autumn Rymerson, Samantha Purdy, Merri Maddox, Chelsea Steck, Valarie Milner, Tess Anderson and Megan Roberts-King – help kick off the 2025 Snowdown Follies on Thursday night at Durango Arts Center. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Sitting in the audience for the Snowdown Follies every year, one can’t help but feel a little jealous of the people brave enough to take the stage in an attempt to make a theater full of people laugh.

And this year’s show is no exception.

The Follies, now in its 41st year, hosted a friends and family performance Thursday night in the Durango Arts Center. It was an enthusiastic crowd, becoming even rowdier as the evening wore on.

Roc Simmons performs his skit, “Cabin Fever Reliever,” during the 2025 Snowdown Follies on Thursday night at Durango Arts Center. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

So without further ado, and without giving anything away for those lucky enough to have tickets to either the live show at the DAC or the simulcasts at Animas City Theatre, here are some parts of the evening that stuck out to us and made us laugh almost until we cried.

Every year, for as long as at least we can remember, the Follies was split into two casts: A and B. This was when the show was held in two venues: The Henry Strater Theatre and DAC. At intermission, the two casts would switch venues and perform the second half of the show. When the Hank closed in 2021, the Follies moved exclusively to DAC. The tradition of two casts lives on, however. Now, after intermission, the Follies switches up emcees for the second half of the show.

Emcees Weird Barbie and Pat Sajak (Erin White Sinberg and Christopher Calagias) perform during Act I at the Follies on Thursday night. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

The emcees are the ones tasked with moving the whole operation along, all while launching joke after joke into the crowd. This year’s duties went to Weird Barbie and Pat Sajak (Erin White Sinberg and Christopher Calagias) in the first half, and two kids (Wesley Ruggles and Andy Rude) about to enter middle school in the second. The two sets each brought their own storylines to the show and left us with plenty of stuff to think about: Let’s just say, as an editor, this reporter will be forever hypervigilant when spelling “Paris,” courtesy of Weird Barbie and Pat Sajak during their wheel-spinning. And the boys, who traveled via “Choose Your Own Adventure” gave us the quote of the show when talking about shopping downtown. (Listen for it.)

Wesley Ruggles and Andy Rude take over emcee duties during Act II of the 2025 Snowdown Follies on Thursday night at Durango Arts Center. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

The acts in the first half covered a lot of comedic ground: Love was on the mind in a few, including finding a mate using an unusual bit of help; “The Dating Game” (Rachel Frederico, Mindi Kondrat, Dawn Kast and Cheri Overstreet), which featured Queen Frostine who is looking for love. Another quote to keep an ear out for comes during “Durango-Opoly” (Chelsea Steck, Laurel Knipling, Stacey Mock and Megan Roberts-King) and has to do with one of our neighbors to the south.

“The Dating Game” is performed by Rachel Frederico, Mindi Kondrat, Dawn Kast and Cheri Overstreet at the Snowdown Follies. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

After Ruggles and Rude kicked off Act Two, eight more skits followed, including one that may send anyone who laughs straight downstairs to where it’s really, really hot and flames lick at your feet ... for all eternity! Roc Simmons (a 36-year Follies vet) gave us a “Cabin Fever Reliever” and Sarah Vader and Chad Hare showed us they can sing, along with a few other acts featuring locals who can hit the right notes.

Sarah Vader and Chad Hare sing a duet during the 2025 Snowdown Follies on Thursday night at Durango Arts Center. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

And a shoutout to the chorus line (Clara Burnett, Autumn Rymerson, Samantha Purdy, Merri Maddox, Chelsea Steck, Valarie Milner, Tess Anderson and Megan Roberts-King) – they help set the tone for the night, and were great this year.

The chorus line – Clara Burnett, Autumn Rymerson, Samantha Purdy, Merri Maddox, Chelsea Steck, Valarie Milner, Tess Anderson and Megan Roberts-King – help open and close the 2025 Snowdown Follies. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Nancy Shanks, Suzanne Ciotti, Jay Ciotti and Suzan Lane, perform “Gettin’ Twisty” during the 2025 Snowdown Follies on Thursday night. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Of note about this year’s cast: In the show’s program next to performers’ names is the number of years the person has been an actor in the Follies. Usually, what stands out the most is the people who are longtime Follies actors – 25, 26, 29, 36(!) years. What stands out this year is the number of people who are fairly new (five years or fewer) to the show. If this crop of newbies sticks around as long as the old-timers, it looks like the Follies will be in good hands for a long time.

Oh, and Weird Barbie: I want those boots!

katie@durangoherald.com



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