Try saying “sesquicentennial.”
Right?
That’s why, Snowdown Follies emcee Ted of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” fame said, we were very close to having a “Sasquatch” Snowdown this year. (“Sesquicentennial,” by the way, is fancy talk for the 150th anniversary of something, in this case, Colorado’s birthday this year.)
So began the 42nd year of the Snowdown Follies. Bill and Ted (Sophie Horelick and Dave Imming) kicked off the show Thursday night at Durango Arts Center by using their trusty telephone booth (remember those?) to take the audience back and forth in time, including mentioning some old downtown bars, which got us feeling really, really old, and brought back the terrible memory of too many Irish Car Bombs at Lady Falconburgh’s ... but we digress. We also got some new pop-culture references and a nod to the infamous “Horse Guy,” the famous downtown kangaroos and the Vallecito hot tub, which made news during the October floods.
Act I took the audience through a wide span of Colorado history – this year’s Snowdown theme is “Uniquely Colorado – Then and Wow,” after all. There was a chuck wagon with a super-catchy song, courtesy of Derek Ryter, Penney Sutcliffe Stahl, Floyd Dingman and Danny Jaques; and women’s empowerment funded by “polyester, pantyhose and estrogen,” featuring Donna Middleton, Rochelle Park, Monserrat Poceno and Sarah Ripley, as well as the ladies of “Hard Knock Wife” – Rachel Frederico, Mindi Kondrat, Amy Aweida and Kimi Hanson – getting their Women’s Lib on.
We also saw plenty of cowboy boots – some on feet with spurs and some ... not on feet. (We’re looking at you, Sandra Shellnut.)
Speaking of local watering holes, keep an eye out for “Poor Fortunate Souls” at the Ranch, featuring Chris Lile, Jessica Sugar Wolf and Michelle Lashbrooke – the singing! The costumes! And “Durango Drunk History” – Carlos Rocha, Hope Espinosa, Sharma Vaughn, Shaheen Hangva, featuring Liz Mason (video) gives the audience a whole new take on the fight scene featured in the mural on the side of El Rancho.
And where the hell is the Alferd Packer party?
Act II said goodbye to emcees Bill and Ted and hello to Durango Police officers Medium Rare and SUSS (Wesley Ruggles and Andy Rude), who were on the case in search of a missing book vital to the Snowdown Follies.
We were treated to a performance by the Colorado Rock Stars – “Bringing in the wolfies ’cause we don’t like sheep” (Nancy Shanks, Suzan Lane, Suzanne Ciotti and Jay Ciotti), another catchy singalong and a fantastic homage to Snowdown OG Terry Fiedler.
The second act also earned the show’s 18-and-older rating, some with titles too spicy for this paper, but needless to say, there was some seriously funny business to be had.
A couple of recent news bits made both acts – the Walmart lettuce dog and the downtown kangaroos. Both are featured in “The Gayte Agent” – Dan Imming, Cyle Cody, Sean Hein and Hugh Boles.
And, of course, a shout out to the Act I and II chorus lines, who brought the show in and took it out with some pretty impressive choreography.
For those lucky enough to get their meat hooks on the highly coveted tickets, either live at the DAC or the simulcast shows at Animas City Theatre, this year’s Follies will have you hootin’ and hollerin’ in your seats – and maybe making plans to audition for next year’s show?
Have a fun and safe Snowdown, everyone!
katie@durangoherald.com
