“Park City Follies” made its debut in 2001 at the Egyptian Theatre.

The ragtag group of volunteers hit the stage after only five nights of rehearsal, said producer Tom Clyde. “We started rehearsals on a Monday and curtain up was on Friday, and it was what you’d expect from that,” Clyde said with a laugh during an interview with The Park Record. “If I remember correctly, half of the cast vanished during intermission and were later found down the street in one of the bars. There was really no point of asking them to come back to finish the show.” Still, Parkites have asked the production to return annually since that fated first night, and, for 11 years, “Park City Follies,” which continues to be produced and performed by volunteers, has poked fun of the blunders and accomplishments of Park City and its residents.

From advertising campaigns to hospitals to the Olympics, nothing has been safe from the annual production’s digging crosshairs.

This year, the target is education, Clyde said.

“With the opening of the charter school and the competition for school funding, along with fears that we have overbuilt and have more classroom space than we need, the obvious target was the school system,” he explained. Writer Annette Velarde said “The Follies'” core creative team herself, Clyde, lyricist Terry Moffitt, videographer Rick Klein and director Paul Tan choose the themes for their own entertainment.

“The touchstone we use as a guide in deciding a theme is anything that distracts us from the sense of mutual support and community in Park City,” she said. “We want ‘Follies’ to be a reminder that we’re all in this community together.”

Throughout the years, the community has embraced the production to the point where most businesses and residents see it as an honor to be lampooned, said Moffitt.

“We don’t want to take ourselves seriously and most people are pretty good sports about it,” she said.

One of the developments in past decade is the appearance of community officials and residents in the production. “I’m amazed at the caliber of people who are in a video or on stage,” Moffitt said. “People who have hard-working jobs lawyers, doctors, heads of ski resorts are all up there having a good time and making fun of themselves.”

“Who knew that kind of talent was hiding out there in the work-a-day world,” Clyde said. “We’ve had Realtors dancing and performing for years. We’ve had school teachers who did a great piece for us one year.”

This year the Park City Fire District will kick up its heels during the opening act.

“That was a bit of a hard sell to convince the firefighters they would be good at a dance act that would open the show, because that’s not their normal deal,” Clyde said. “At least I don’t think they tap dance around the firehouse between calls.” Another new aspect this year is the choreography, Velarde said. “Jesus sent us two professional dancers, Stephanie Bass and Tanya Taylor, who are in charge of choreography,” she said. “The choreography is going to up the bar this production. Last year the dancing was done by the creative team members, who would be a complete embarrassment even at The Spur. So this year will be a huge improvement.”

Although Velarde is the main writer, there is a cohesive interchange within the core creative group during the process.

“I may do the bulk of the writing, but every single word is up for review by all five of us,” she said. “That’s true of the songs, the videos and the staging. Every point of the production is reviewed by the five of us.

“We found a sincere collaboration produces a better production in all aspects,” she said. “Instead of ending up with one person’s opinion, we end up with what we think is representative of the underlying current of the whole Park City community.” In fact, the community was the reason why “Park City Follies” started in the first place, Clyde said.

“The Park City Chamber of Commerce had the idea of trying to get the ski season to end with some excitement,” he said. “Canyons was already doing pond skimming and this production sort of built on that.”

Clyde also emphasized “Park City Follies” is not suitable for children under the age of 16.

“That’s the nature of the show,” he said with another laugh. “There is a lot of innuendo, but it’s all in good fun.”

“Park City Follies: No Follies Left Behind,” will run April 28 through April 30 and May 5 through May 7 at the Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St. Curtain is 8 p.m.

Tickets are $25-$30 and available by visiting www.parkcityshows.com or calling 649-9371.