Darlin's,

The party's nearly over! It's hard to believe we're now in the seventh month of our spectacular 15th birthday season and - even though we've been playing up to 10 performances per week - there's still plenty of kick in my fabulous cast for these final two weeks.

And speaking of still kicking, our current guest star, Jo Ann Castle, may be recovering from knee surgery, but it hasn't affected her fingers! Miss Castle hammers the ivories with the same power and speed she first displayed on The Lawrence Welk Show when she was but a wee teenager.

If you haven't visited us or want to just say hello one last time, please don't delay. There are just a few performances left before the curtain comes down on our season on May 21. The ladies and gentleman of the Follies then scatter around the globe to visit with family and friends, to see new sights, to continue their dance studies or to meet up with fans from their illustrious careers.

In this month's missive, you'll read about some celebrated guests we've had at the Follies, including a special group who joined us in April, and a few words and photos about cast member Jill Gordon.

And for Follies Favorites, there's a Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cake recipe from Follies Lovely Dorothy Kloss on the Favorites' "members only" pages. Just the desert for a summer picnic!

Along with Follies Co-Founder Mary Jardin and the entire staff here at the Historic Plaza Theatre, I thank you, Dear Patron, for another magnificent season. You allow us to continue doing what we love most, which is entertaining you!

Be well and keep dancing!


Riff Markowitz
"The Follies Man"

If you haven't got your mother a Mother's Day present by the time you read this... (Well, we can all imagine how she would finish that sentence, can't we?!)

Fortunately, what Mother doesn't know won't hurt her, and there are still some tickets left for the Follies' Mother's Day matinee on May 14. Surprise dear, ol' Mom and treat her to a great show!

Or if Mother already gave up on you and made other plans for that special day, you can still get her a gift certificate that she can apply to our all-new, "all-old" show next season. That way, you'll be a hero and she'll have something to look forward to. (And we'll keep our yaps shut about the whole procrastination thing.)

Patrons often ask what happens to the gorgeous gowns worn by the Long-Legged Lovelies after a season is over? The answer is that most are donated to the theater departments of local schools. The accompanying photos show representatives from the College of the Desert and Palm Springs High School collecting donated costumes from the Follies warehouse.

Costumes not needed by the schools are donated to Revivals Resale Mart to be sold to benefit Desert AIDS Project.

At every performance of the Follies, we salute the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, but the families of our soldiers and sailors also make great sacrifices to benefit our country. For that reason, the Follies is honored to participate in Operation Enduring Families, a program organized through Marine Corps Community Services.

In April, nearly 40 spouses from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in nearby Twentynine Palms enjoyed dinner at The Kaiser Grill on Palm Canyon Drive, courtesy of restaurateur Lee Morcus, and then attended an evening performance of the Follies. This is the fourth time in recent years that the Follies has been able to show its support by hosting a group of Marine spouses.

Jill Gordon, 62, Follies Dance Captain, returns for her ninth season as a Long-Legged Lovely. Her career began as a Moro Landis chorus dancer touring Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. She's appeared on the Andy Williams, Glen Campbell and Dean Martin television shows, and spent a season on The Carol Burnett Show. In 1976, she began a 12-year professional relationship with Mac Davis, traveling the world dancing and singing. She also appeared in his numerous television specials.

From 1988 to 1991, she produced her own 50's revue entitled Bop. It was during this time that she began touring with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in a nostalgic show reminiscent of the Beach Party movies and continued working with Frankie until 1996. "Don't buy into what society tells you about aging!" What has been your life's greatest challenge? "Getting clean and sober: I recently celebrated twenty years of sobriety with Alcoholics Anonymous."

We partner with over fifty restaurants, hotels, attractions, retailers and special services to assist you in making your visit to Palm Springs and the Follies even more enjoyable.

For a complete listing plus additional helpful details, please visit the "Visitor Information" page of the Follies website by clicking here. Some vendors even make special offers exclusive to Follies patrons, so please check this webpage before your next visit. This page also includes parking information, street directions and weather information to make planning your Follies visit as easy as possible!

The Follies box office is open seven days a week and can be reached by calling 760-327-0225 or you can purchase tickets online 24 hours a day at www.psfollies.com and see your exact seat location at the time of booking.