Florenz Ziegfeld is alive and well in Walnut Creek where the Diablo Light Opera Company is presenting an opulent production of the Tony Award winning musical The Will Rogers Follies: a Life in Revue at the Lesher Center for the Arts through September 27th. We first saw this show at the Palace Theatre in New York where Keith Carradine portrayed the legendary Will Rogers along with Dee Hoty as Betty Blake. Cady Huffman, who won a Tony Award later for The Producers, played Ziegfeld's Favorite. The show walked off with six Tony awards in 1991.

This is one of my favorite Cy Coleman shows, since the music is upbeat and the lyrics by Comden and Green are sparkling. The book by Peter Stone is pleasantly folksy. Songs such as "Will-a-Mania" and "Our Favorite Son" are full of energy when sung by the large cast. "The Powder Puff Ballet" would make Florenz happy. There are tender romantic songs like "My Unknown Someone" and "No Man Left For Me." Even Will Rogers' song, "I Never Met a Man I Didn't Like" is appealing. Many people don't know who Will Rogers was, but I remember him even as kid growing up in Ohio. He was probably the best political humorist of the 1930s, and the forerunner of the more sophisticated opinionated comedians like Jon Stewart and Mort Sahl.

Director Gloria Trombley and company have pulled out all the stops to make this a lavish musical with terrific yet simple 100 percent escapism choreography by Sheri Stockdale, based on Tommy Tune's original work. The chorus boys and girls are tremendous, with the meticulousness of the Rockettes. Even the big number where the chorus girls sit along with Shane Partlow, who plays Will Rogers, singing and using extraordinary hand movements to "Our Favorite Son" is precision personified.

Shane Partlow (Los Angeles actor who has played "The Roper" in 22 productions of the show) is wonderful as he ropes and jokes his way into the audience's favor. He perfectly plays the role of the man who makes fun of himself and comes up with political gems that are still relevant today. ("I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat," and referring to the evolutionist-creationist debate that still rages today, he believes "man descended from lawyers".)

Christina Martin (has appeared at the Riverside Civic Light Opera and Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont) as Betty Blake is delightful and has a crystal-clear voice when singing "My Unknown Someone" and "No Man Left for Me," and singing with Partlow and four very charming youngsters in "The Big Time." Amy Nielson (DLOC's Cinderella) is a delight as Ziegfeld's Favorite. Not wearing very much, she shimmies across the stage with a Marilyn Monroe grin to carry signs marking the progress of Rogers' story. Ron Pickett (DLOC's Brigadoon) is perfect as Clem, Will's father. There is a hint of pathos beneath his witticism. There is even a clever dog act that brings down the house.

Producer Ellen B. Smith has spared no expense with Willa Kim and Carol Edlinger's 400 candy costumes and 1000 lightbulbs flashing different colors under the direction of Michael Palumbo. The set looks like an MGM musical with lighted steps running to the top of the back of the stage. There are zinging melodies coming from the 16-piece orchestra directed by Cheryl Yee Glass. In Gloria Trombley's deft hands, this an excellent theatrical involvement by all members of the cast and production staff.

The Will Rogers Follies plays at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1600 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek through September 27th. For tickets call 925-943-7469. The DLOC will present the first local production of Mel Brook's The Producers on February 13, 2009.