`THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES': SHOW AT SIU SPARKLES WITH ZIEGFIELD PRODUCTIONS

Kelley Swaim is a chorus member known as Ziegfeld's Favorite in "The Will Rogers Follies."

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas --Through switching her major to theater at Indiana University and jumping aboard an Alaskan cruise ship to do a Cole Porter revue, Stephanie Morgan didn't always have her parents' blessing for a stage career.

Maybe her two-year tour of Europe in "Hair" changed their minds.

"They realized I love what I do so much and that I was willing not to have the kind of security ... I grew up with," she said.

Morgan recently acquired the role of Betty Blake, one of the leads in the production of "The Will Rogers Follies" to be presented at 8 p.m. Sunday at Shryock Auditorium at SIU-Carbondale. Tickets are available by phoning (618) 453-ARTS.

In the beginning of his own career, Rogers went on stage as a former cowboy who simply did rope tricks. But he became a humorist, columnist and homespun social critic whose work on radio and in films, vaudeville and "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1916" gained him wide fame.

He was a spokesman for the American people. When Rogers visited Washington, he stayed at the White House.

But if Rogers "never met a man I didn't like," he had little praise for politicians.

"I'm not a member of any organized party ... I'm a Democrat!" and "Once a man holds public office, he is absolutely no good for honest work" are Rogers-isms.

The Tony-winning "Will Rogers Follies" weds Rogers' wit and easy charm in telling the story of his life to his involvement with follies producer Flo Ziegfeld, a combination that offers cowboys with spinning lariats and young women in lavish costumes.

"The Will Rogers Follies" sparkles with production numbers, but also has an intimate and poignant side.

Rogers' life ended tragically in 1935 when the plane piloted by his friend, famed aviator Wiley Post, crashed in Alaska.

"This show is very soulful because of Will Rogers," Morgan says. "Our country lost a hero and it needed him at that time, especially at the time of the Depression.

The music was written by Cy Coleman, whose other credits include "Sweet Charity," "Two for the Seesaw" and "Barnum."

Playing opposite Morgan will be Bill O'Brien, a veteran musical theater actor who previously toured as the lead in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" and George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life."

Betty Blake was Rogers' wife and the mother of his four children. She doesn't sound like someone a "very single" '90s woman like New York City-dweller Morgan might initially relate to.

But Blake wasn't the ingenue Morgan thought she'd be playing. "She was a very strong woman," she said. "... This was a different time period in our country. Her strength was that she stood with her husband and with her family. That was her career.

"She was a gentle rock."

Morgan's own aspirations are to grow artistically and spiritually through her roles. "That is one in my mind. What kind of molding that takes on I'm not sure right now," she said.

"My heart and soul is in my music, and my voice is the best way I can express myself."

Broadway is her goal. "I know that sounds very cliche, but I like roles I can put my whole being into," she said.

"From that I learn and grow as a human being and artist."

Now Morgan dedicates every performance in "The Will Rogers Follies" to her parents. "There have been some rough times and they have helped me out a lot," she said.

"It's comforting knowing somebody is behind you. In New York, sometimes it feels as if nobody is behind you."