The curtain has come down on a Yukon summer tradition that has spanned nearly 50 years.

The Frantic Follies Vaudeville Show will not be put on stage as a full production this summer.

As company co-owner Grant Simpson explained in an interview this morning, the show has been operating on a “shoe-string budget” for the last four or five years – and he just wasn’t confident it could continue any longer.

“Tourism just isn’t supporting it any more,” Simpson said.

After the stage show celebrating the Yukon and its Gold Rush-era history lost the confirmed bookings it once had through Holland America tour packages, he said, revenue dropped approximately 60 per cent.

“That changed everything for us,” Simpson said.

Under that arrangement, the Follies delighted many thousands of mainly Americans tourists over many years. Each season would premiere with a special night for Yukoners to attend to see familiar, favourite acts, new faces and fresh material.

In a press release, he noted that after the show was dropped from the tours, the life of the production was extended thanks to the assistance of local businesses.

Those included the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel, where the show was performed for decades, and P.R. Services, among others that have worked with the Follies.

Efforts have been made to scale things back as much as possible.

Given the size of the production, however, a summer payroll of 30 is still required, and the show does not receive government subsidies.

To Simpson’s knowledge, it may be one of the only independent theatrical productions in North America.

“It’s a lot to manage,” he said.

Still, Simpson remains proud of the production he’s been a part of for more than 30 years.

As he described it, it’s a show that “saved” him from the pulp mills of Nanaimo, B.C.

That’s where he lived before arriving in the territory in 1980 at 20 years old, when he was hired by the Follies to showcase his musical talents for similar shows at Diamond Tooth Gerties in Dawson City.

The following summer, Simpson was asked to be part of the Follies’ Whitehorse show and he never looked back, eventually buying in as a partner.

It’s given him a life in vaudeville, he said, and “it’s been great.”

As he pointed out though, the Follies were already a staple of Yukon tourism long before he joined the cast.

It got its start as an amateur production in 1968 before the first professional season in 1970, when it was performed in an school gym, it’s noted on the Follies’ website.

The production moved part way through the first professional season to the former Whitehorse Inn, and then in 1973 to the Bonanza Room at the Whitehorse Travelodge (now the Westmark).

The show proved popular and in 1975, there were two performances each night.

Cross-Canada tours followed in the mid-1970s. A four-month stint in Florida followed in the early 1980s with a 10-city North American tour over two weeks in 1990.

For Simpson and many others who have graced the Follies’ stage, the show represented the start of a career on stage; a chance to flex their creative muscles. Such well-known Yukon performers as Debbie Winston, Dale Cooper, Grant Hartwick, Graeme Peters and Shane Dewald have been involved with the show over the decades.

When Simpson started, he joined a crew of veterans who had been part of the Follies for some time.

“I learned from all these veterans,” he said.

As the years passed for Simpson, there was an incredible amount of freedom in writing full-scale musical numbers, theatrical pieces and so much more for the Follies’ stage.

“It was totally awesome all along,” he said, as he acknowledged there have been some “serious, theatrical people” over the years who have criticized the Follies.

Simpson commented that the Follies are “goofy, humour” for the Gold Rush era; that’s what it’s always been.

Year after year, cast members have worked to create an entertaining show anyone could take their grandma, grandpa and five-year-old to and have everyone enjoy it.

Without his career in Yukon vaudeville, he said, he would not have produced the music and stage productions he’s done outside of the Follies’ stage.

Both his own and co-founder Lyall Murdoch’s kids have followed in their fathers’ footsteps and have been part of the Follies’ cast in recent years. Simpson said that’s been another amazing part of the experience.

As news has spread of the end to the more large-scale Follies performances, Simpson said he’s been receiving emails and messages from many former cast members who got their start as part of the Follies.

There are so many memories, he said as he recalled the fire marshal putting an end to the performance by a fire eater.

He also remembers a scare at Diamond Tooth Gerties after someone came in with a fake rifle that appeared to be real – which left him alone on stage playing Tea For Two after the can can dancers scattered off the stage, and of course watching his own kids take to the stage.

In the statement, Simpson publicly thanked the many Yukoners “who came to the shows time and time again. Laughing at the same jokes. Stealing punch lines. Bringing relatives. Telling other people, ‘go and see the Follies!’ Thank you all very much.

“The Follies will be missed by many of us.  People near and far talk to me about seeing the show over the past 48 years. It has been a Yukon tourism beacon for a long time.  For many young people, it was their first professional job.   

“The current cast is naturally disappointed as we were all hoping for another season; however, tourist numbers make the risk too great, and we have made the responsible decision at the right time.”

Simpson is hoping the show can continue as a smaller-scale venture that could be booked for special events.

As he pointed as well, when discussing the curtain falling on the Follies, co-founder Lyall Murdoch commented: “47 years .... that’s a pretty good run.”