It grew from a relatively small operation, a show in the Incline High School auditorium which yielded about $10,000 annually to a major production in the Cal Neva’s Frank Sinatra ballroom, drawing sellout crowds, $50,000-plus in revenue and attracting nearly every facet of the Incline Village community.

When the curtains rise, they’ll see a community event which has withstood the test of time where so many, many others have faltered.

When the curtains rise, they’ll see a show.

Incline’s Star Follies started as a borrowed idea in the mind of former resident Debbe Deverill. When she moved with her husband to Incline from San Diego, in the late 1990s, she’d experienced Star Follies, the lip-synch musical for charity, firsthand and knew of director Don Hertel. She immediately thought the idea was a hit and thought it would work in Incline.

To get the ball rolling, Deverill approached friend and resident Linda Offerdahl for ideas about what groups could benefit from such a program.

“I approached Linda Offerdahl about starting the Follies up here and wanted to know what the most needy charity would be,” Deverill said. “She said one of the most needy causes she knew of would be the schools.”

So, the two started working on the event, which they agreed would fund the Elementary’s School’s PTA.

The IHS auditorium was booked, cast members were contacted, and a doctor by the name of Joy Koch got a call.

“Debbe approached me and said she had gotten this idea for the show,” Koch said. “She wanted me to be in it. I looked at her and said ‘I don’t have any talent,’ but she said it was fine, so I said I’d be there.”

When the curtains go up on April 3, Koch will be in the show, much as she was in 2000, and every intervening year. She is the only 10-year member of the show.

“In the second year I got an e-mail to be in the show and I didn’t e-mail back,” Koch said. “Debbe e-mailed me back and asked me to join, so I said if you can’t fill the spot, I’ll be there. By the third or fourth year I came back because it was just so much fun.”

The show has changed since those early days. Most importantly, said current organizer Kathie Goldberg, it doesn’t take place in the High School, but rather the Cal Neva.

“Since we’ve been at the Cal Neva the show is a lot classier,” Goldberg, who has been involved since 2001, said. “It’s more professional and definitely has a feeling of improved quality.”

The show moved to the Cal Neva in 2002.

Casts have grown slightly larger and students are more eager to join, said fellow organizer Ron Stichter, who has been involved since 2002.

“Back then we had so much trouble trying to get kids in it, they just weren’t excited about it,” Stichter said. “I don’t know what changed, but we have to turn kids away now and they are getting better and better. Now it’s at the point where kids can’t wait to get to fifth grade, eighth grade and their senior year to participate.”

One constant has been Hertel, who Deverill credited with much of the show’s success. And, she said, the show is easy to run because it draws community members in to participate.

" I saw this could bring a cause to everyone because it was something they could participate in,” Deverill said. “You can see the synergistic effect.”

Stichter said the show has remained attractive to the community because of the children who participate in it, something Goldberg echoed.

“We always tell the kids that the people in the audience are mostly there to see them,” Goldberg said.

Another constant has been the ticket prices, which Stichter said he’s proud to say have never been raised.

Premium seats still cost $50, wing seats $35 and general theater seats are $25, just as they were in 2000. Students see the show for $10 and all tickets are available from the Potlatch.

As for its staying power, the show’s year-in-and-out success, Koch attributes it to the level of organization, Goldberg partly attributed it to the participants, who each year come out with more and more elaborate costumes.

Deverill said the show spawns great feelings in the participants and audience.

“I think the staying power is the magical nature of the show,” Deverill said. “It transforms the children and parents who participate in it into nearly professional stars... It’s all very positive, it’s a sort of escape and that positive feeling stays with you for a long time.”

Costumes which have been well-thought out, picked up from Linda Offerdahl at Dress the Part(y) or ordered online to find that perfect rock and roll ensemble or glittery top.

The dance moves are practiced by the adults (if nothing else) and perfected by the students.

Lights, music and cast come together to provide an entertaining live show.

But, it doesn’t just happen.

The costumes are decided and purchased well ahead of time, Asst. Director Kathie Goldberg keeps a running cast list throughout the year and the show’s board of directors is constantly raising money for the show.

Show director Don Hertel crafts choreography for the adults — a feat in itself, given the abundance of left feet in the cast — while a trio of ladies — Karen Osborne, Mindy Wegener and Keli Maiocco — choreograph for the students.

Maiocco works with the middle school while Osborne and Wegener work with the elementary and high school students.

The choreography process starts in November — five months before the opening night — when the three get the music from Hertel for the upcoming show.

“We try to challenge the students as much as possible,” said Osborne, a 6-year Follies veteran with previous stage experience. “When we first get the music in November we’ll listen to it over and over again, then I’ll work it through with Mindy to figure out the dance moves.”

To keep it fresh, Osborne said, she’s turned to the Internet’s YouTube for dance ideas.

“After doing it for so many years I was running out of ideas and didn’t want the kids to get bored,” Osborne said.

Maiocco said she’s working on the choreography constantly, listening to the songs in her car for a solid month and putting them together piece by piece.

“Once we get the music I listen to it over and over again,” Maiocco said. “First I’ll do the choruses and go step by step from there. I’m a very visual thinking so I’m imagining how it will look constantly.”

“Generally Karen is our idea person,” Wegener said. “When we first get the music she’ll start to brainstorm what some of the props could be and we go on from there.”

Wegener said the routine varies from the elementary school’s fifth graders, who are performing for the first time, to the high school’s students, some of who are on shows no. 4 or 5.

“For the elementary kids we try to tell a story, and the high school is more centered around the dancing,” Wegener said.

Osborne said the moves for the elementary have gotten much more complex over her years of participation with the show.

“At first I was a little soft on them, especially with the elementary kids,” Osborne said. “They get so much better every year that now I’ve made it nearly impossible for the next show to top the last one, they’re that good.”

Wegener said the elementary students have a remarkable ability to handle the choreography and rarely have major problems with it.

Each of the three takes the completed choreography back to their respective groups and teaches the dance moves — sometimes to surprising results.

“My favorite part is watching the kids blossom, I’m in tears backstage at the end of the show every year just from watching how far they’ve come,” Osborne said. “Sometimes we’ll take a very shy kid and give them a lead. After the show the parents will come up to me and ask me how we got them out of their shell.”

Some of the most shy end up with leads in the show, and choreographing a lead is something that requires a little give and take, Maiocco said.

“I’ll usually work with them a little, but they go up their with their free spirit and add some of their own stuff,” Maiocco said.

The final step, Osborne said, are for the three sets of students to come together and work on the all-cast numbers.

Then, it’s off to the show, the crowning event of months of work.

“When I see them up there, I’m just full of pride,” Maiocco said.

“I knew Debbe Deverill and she called me and said I would be perfect for the show. I couldn’t call her out so I succumbed,” Koch said.

Although Koch could not recall the names of the actual numbers she appeared in that first year she did recall that one of the numbers was with local businesswoman, Linda Offerdahl.

“I only remember one. I did a ‘50s number with a hula hoop,” she said. “I kept thinking oh ‘God I’m never going to live this down.’”

Koch has practiced medicine in Incline Village for 21 years and is a supporter of the local public school system because she attended public schools.

“I am a big supporter of the public schools in Incline,” Koch said. “I love the public school system and concept of public education.”

Koch’s son attended the Incline Village public schools and was in middle school when she started performing with the Follies.

“My son went to school here from fourth grade on and graduated from Incline High School,” she said. “And he got a great education. I have to commend Incline High School.”

That first year in the Follies though Koch admitted that she was terrified of doing the show. Now, after 10 years of performing Koch is very comfortable on the stage.

“The first time I was on stage I was terrified, she said. “I was the least likely to be on a stage, now I don’t even get nervous.”

With all of her performances, Koch has had the opportunity to see lots of changes and improvements.

“In the beginning it was only a fundraiser for the elementary school and only kids from the elementary school performed in the show,” Koch said.

The middle school students were added the second year and high school students the third year.

“That is the biggest change, the number of kids in the show has enlarged,” said Koch.

The number of adult cast members increased also, but not like the number of students in the show. And according to Koch, it is the students that really make the show — especially for the upcoming 2009 show.

“I have watched some of the high school stuff this year and it is incredible,” she said.

But the basics have remained the same as they were the first year.

“The Follies t-shirts and black pants are still the same,” Koch said. “But the costuming has gotten more elaborate and there is more dancing. The numbers became more complicated in a good way.”

The talent in the adult cast now is more polished Koch explained which allows for more numbers at higher levels.

“I have stayed because it is a good cause and fun,” she said. “It gets me out of my cubicle. Gets me out of my box and pulls me into a whole different thing every year.”

She was not able to remember any numbers that had been personal favorites because all have been fun for her to perform. One number, however, did stick in her mind. It was when she had to fill a last minute role and found that a little challenging.

“One year Joy Michiel was supposed to be in a number but was unable to and gave me her role at the last moment,” Koch said. “It was for a very loud and demanding preacher.”

Another year Koch was given the role as a nurse in the number “Let’s Get More Men into Nursing.”

“I was the head nurse, not the doctor, the nurse,” she laughed.

Even though each show requires many hours to learn her parts and dance steps Koch spends a lot of time memorizing lines while in the car or learning dance steps at home.

“One of the benefits is that I am more confident as a public speaker. I used to be terrified of speaking,” she said. “I am not a ham by nature.”

But along the way Koch found other benefits to being a cast member as well.

“I have gotten to know a lot of people I probably would not have,” she said. “It has been a lovely enhancement to my life.”

Koch said that being a member of the cast is the easy part compared to what other members of the Incline Star Follies do.

“Being in the show is no where near the amount of work as what Kathie Goldberg does or the fundraising committee,” she said. “This is the fun part.”

Koch stressed that many people play important roles in the Follies other than members of the cast.

“Don Hertel (director and choreographer) does his job out of love,” she said. “He spends his vacation time here.”

And the costumes are also important. Each number requires costumes which are purchased or furnished by the cast member.

“Linda Offerdahl has made our job so much easier,” she said. “It is really convenient to shop at her store and the costumes are reasonably priced. Plus sales from her shop return to the schools.”

The people in charge of the Incline Star Follies also have difficult jobs Koch said.

“Kathy Goldberg is amazing. I would hate to guess the number of hours she spends each year on Star Follies, or Ron Stichter,” she added.

Generally Koch feels that the productions have gone fairly smoothly each year. At least for her part.

“I have never had a wardrobe malfunction,” she laughed.

Does she have any plans to retire now that she has been a cast member for 10 years or will she be back next year?

“As long as the show continues and they continue to want me,” she said. “I will continue.”