Cedar Rapids event celebrates late ‘Follies’ founders Bob and Alo Geuder

The late Robert and Alo Geuder of Cedar Rapids shunned the spotlight, but on Saturday night, their contributions to the theatrical community will be center stage.

“A Night to Remember: A Tribute to Robert and Alo Geuder” will be celebrated at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Jefferson High School, where Bob taught from 1959 to 1996, co-founded the West Side Delegation show choir, and rose to the governing ranks of the International Thespian Society, serving on the board of directors from 1974 to 1980, assistant international director from 1976 to 1977, and the international president from 1978 to 1980.

Bob and Alo also were the moving forces behind “The Follies” productions that brought thousands of fans to Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls stages, along with thousands of singers, actors, musicians, dancers and crew members.

Bob was the visionary for productions from beginning to end, and Alo brought the costumes to life, said Barb Colehour of Cedar Rapids, who performed in “The Follies” but spent most of her time behind the scenes, organizing the tour bus and group patron experiences, as well as serving a stint as associate producer.

Alumni from the couple’s Jefferson and “Follies” days will offer up songs and tributes, either in person or virtually. Among them will be Broadway performers Christopher Johnstone and Catherine Blades, as well as Sid Wingfield, who has had an international solo career and opened for or jammed with the Beach Boys, Michael McDonald, B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, blues guitarist Albert King and British reggae rockers UB40.

Other familiar faces adding their talents to the event include emcees Lynn Jensen and Dennis Green, JoAnna (Holt) Mishler, Amy and Emily Hanisch, Cherryl Moon Thomason, Steve Rezabek, Tracy Price, Jonathan Dyrland, Debbie Brooks, Barb Colehour, Steve Ginsberg, and returning performers Christi Dyrland Smith and Brad Wermager, as well as a tribute from Roger Meeker, who was Bob’s tech director at Jefferson High School.

“This is a one-time shot,” said Colehour, who also has served on the tribute planning committee, spearheaded by organizer Joe Link from Jefferson’s language arts and theater departments. “You couldn’t have a better celebration of Bob and Alo Geuder than all of us who loved them coming together for it,” Colehour added.

Alo preceded Bob in death, passing away Dec. 22, 2020, at age 88. Bob died July 1, 2021 at age 89. A joint memorial service was held July 9, 2021, at their church.

“With the funeral being during the pandemic, a lot of people didn’t get to really be there to pay any tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Geuder,” said Debbie Brooks of Walford, another member of the tribute planning committee. “People really wanted to share things about what the Geuders did for them, whether it was their talent that they’ve gone on to do now, or special memories of Bob and Alo.”

Brooks, a retired music teacher, was in the first West Side Delegation cast, and went on to work with the Geuders through school and at the Paramount in “The Follies” and “The King and I.”

“The Geuders have been in my life pretty much all of my life. As they were for many, many kids that went to Jefferson — they were like surrogate parents.

“Both of them were very modest and kind of quiet,” Brooks said. “Bob was very articulate but he was a quiet man. When he would direct on stage, he never raised his voice. He pretty much was even keel all the time. I think it calmed a lot of the chaos of teens down, just being around him. I think it was one of the reasons why so many kids just gravitated to wanting to be around him — and Alo both. They both were that way.”

The couple also fostered a family feel for “The Follies,” as well, where it was common for parents and their children to be in the show, and where cast and crew members created lifelong friendships.

Theater was a family affair for the Geuders and their daughters, Susan Clapp and Sheryl Payton, both of Cedar Rapids.

The girls spent a lot of time in the Jefferson theater, and since Sheryl was just 6 months old when her dad started there, she had a crib in the light booth.

Armed with a master’s degree in costume design, her dad brought that work into their home, where Alo would make, mend and alter the costumes for the various shows.

“I got to meet the people that bought their house, and did tell them, ‘You’ll probably still find glitter — we tried to clean up as much as we could.’ And they laughed,” Sheryl said.

Before attending what is now the University of Northern Iowa, Bob and Alo met at dances at Lakeside Ballroom in Guttenberg. They soon discovered their dates were related, so when the next dance whirled around, they said, “Let’s ditch the cousins,” Sheryl noted.

The couple were married on Aug. 23, 1953. After Bob’s peacetime stint in the Army, they embarked on a life in the theater, and are survived by two daughters, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Sheryl recalled a happy childhood full of attending rehearsals and performances, and taking family car trips during the summer, often staying with former students and acquaintances along the routes.

However, because of theater, she and her sister attended Kennedy High School instead of Jefferson, so if they decided to audition for plays, they would get roles on their own merit, and their dad wouldn’t look like he was playing favorites by casting his kids.

But drama did follow her across the threshold when she brought home her beau, Jim Payton from Anamosa.

“This is growing up in the Geuder family,” she said with a laugh. “He walked in the door, and my parents were, of course, working on ‘Follies’ costumes, so glitter, feathers, everything everywhere. My mom looked up. No hello, nice to meet you. It was, ‘Oh you’re about the same size as David Bolt. Come here and put this dress on.’

“I was totally horrified. But my husband — my boyfriend at the time — stood there and let her dress him, put pins in it and hem it up, and I thought, ‘Oh, he’ll never come back.’ But he did. That was his first experience, because he didn’t know theater. He was a football (player) and wrestler.”

Sheryl, her sister and their families are looking forward to sharing memories like that, and hearing many more from others who will speak at Saturday’s tribute.

“We’re very, very thankful and honored that they chose to do this,” she said of the event organizers and participants. “It’s going to be so fun to see so many people back from ‘Follies,’ from Jefferson, past co-workers, friends, family. It’ll be just wonderful.”

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