By Staff
Staff Reports
What happens when pirates, lawyers, doctors, bankers, law-enforcement personnel and a menagerie of other characters come together?
To find out, you’re encouraged to buy tickets to the 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. Dancing With OUR Stars shows at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center on Saturday.
Dancing with OUR Stars, the popular charity event, supports Eagle’s Wings, a United Way agency that strives to alleviate the immediate hunger needs of the impoverished and homeless in Beaufort County.
The fun event provides up to 75 percent of the organization’s annual funding needs and provides food to 250 families per month. DWOS is not a dance contest; it is a fundraising competition. The winning team is determined by the amount of donations received on that team’s behalf. Previous celebrity winners were Tom Anglim, a chief assistant district attorney, and Dr. Marc Rucquoi. Both were partnered with volunteer dancer Kiki Hampton.
Shannon Reising, interim executive director for Eagle’s Wings, choreographer and event organizer, is moved by past responses to the event.
“It is amazing to see how much this event helps so many impoverished families. Of course, we hope to sell out each show so we can entertain a full house, but, most importantly, we want to raise as much money as possible for those in need,” she said.
The cast of characters for the 2010 event is an eclectic mix of local personalities. Back by popular demand are Beaufort County Sheriff Alan Jordan and Mick Reed, Washington’s police chief. Their simmering rivalry grows amidst whispers of over-the-top performances and secret rehearsals with their respective crime-fighting teams.
Making its DWOS debut is a select group of Beaufort County doctors and medical personnel. The group’s zany presentation, “Mad Quack Fever,” features a patient, a gurney, a rubber chicken, a flamenco guitarist and a Groucho Marx want-to-be.
“Somehow they make it work. … It’s hilarious,” said Janet Cox, DWOS director.
Cox, owner of Le Moulin Rouge de Danse, a co-sponsor of the event, continued, “The show is going to be the best one yet! We have four times as many people in the cast this year, but it’s going to be 10 times better. It’s so diverse; we have 4-year-olds and an 86-year-old and people representing a variety of occupations and walks of life.” (See inset box for the complete roster of teams and “stars.”)
Tickets may be purchased in advance at Eagle’s Wings on West Third Street for $10 (per person) or above, depending on show time and seat selection. Tickets will be sold at Music in the Streets on Friday night at the corner of Main and Market streets. For more information about the event or to make a donation, call Eagle’s Wings at 252-975-1138 or visit www.eagles-wings.org.