Follies returns to the CG stage this weekend

Cary-Grove High School is happy to announce that Fall Follies will return in-person this year, featuring the members of Beginning Mixed Choir, Advanced Mixed Choir, Bel Canto, Swing Choir, and A Cappella. 

Popular songs in this year’s Fall Follies include a mashup of “Born to Be Wild” and “Born This Way” performed by Swing Choir, along with “Come Alive” from The Greatest Showman.

Advanced Mixed Choir will present “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin” from Teen Beach Movie, and Beginning Mixed Choir will sing “Drag Me Down” by One Direction.

A Cappella will feature the hit musical Hair, reenacting many iconic numbers from the musical. Skits will be interlaced throughout the performance, poking fun at current issues in the Cary-Grove community.

This will be the first Follies performance for the freshmen and sophomores in the group, so they’re getting up to speed with the traditions, such as how the dances come together. 

Kyra Craddock is one of five freshman choreographers creating dances for Beginning Mixed Chorus in preparation for Fall Follies.

The routine of the choreographers is to arrive early in the morning before school and watch the old dance videos of previous Cary-Grove Fall Follies performances. After that, they decide what moves they liked and what dance moves they didn’t like. To create the new dance, the choreographers bring over the things they liked along with adding dance moves to fill in for the removed ones. 

Craddock said the choreographers sometimes disagree on what dance moves should be kept or removed, but it’s up to them to resolve creative differences to create the dance. Even though there are challenges with it, Craddock said that she overall enjoys teaching it, and that choreographing allows her an outlet to express her creativity and lets others experience the joy of dancing.

Mrs. Hester, choir director at Cary Grove, said she is looking forward to this year’s Fall Follies and is excited to get back on stage after being away from school for so long. Mrs. Hester is excited to hold Fall Follies in front of a full audience and give as many people as possible a chance to see the beloved performance without attendance restrictions put in place by COVID-19. 

Mrs. Hester says that it is hard for her to choose a favorite song that will be performed during this year’s Fall Follies, and that she loves all of them. However, if she had to choose, she would pick “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles, a song that Bel Canto will perform. Both the song and dance were arranged entirely by Mrs. Hester herself. 

Mrs. Hester feels that the Fall Follies is a melting pot of diversity in the community and shows off how creative and talented the students are. Music and people are big parts of Mrs. Hester’s life, and she is glad to have a profession mixing both of them together. Mrs. Hester loves sharing the joy of music with her students, and she hopes that they have just as much fun performing in Fall Follies as she does directing it.

Fall Follies will occur November 18th through the 22nd, taking place at 7:00 PM on Thursday, 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 2:00 PM on Sunday. Tickets are not yet sold out for every show and can be purchased at https://cg.d155.org/cary-grove-performing-arts/cary-grove-choirs.