STRONGSVILLE - Music, music, music. And comedy, dance and history.

That's what Puttin' on the Glitz XV, the 55-and-over song and dance revue, offered to its appreciative audiences during Nov. 11-13 performances at the Strongsville Middle School auditorium.

This was the first time in the event's 15-year history that it was held in the fall. Prior Glitz performances took place in March, but renovations at the high school and construction of the middle school forced its rescheduling.

"Music, Music, Music" was the title theme to this year's Glitz. The Sounds of Gold under the direction of Don Shearer opened the show by singing that popular song published in 1949.

If one was in the mood for amore, he or she was in luck. A section of songs followed under the title "Music for Love." Selections from "West Side Story," including "Maria," "Tonight," "America" and "One Hand, One Heart" were sung by the Sounds of Gold with soloists Ann Painting, Ron Chidsey, Arlene Miller, Diane Springer, Diane Pring and Carl Anderson lending their vocal talents.

"The Greatest Love of All," a song originally intended for the 1977 biopic "The Greatest" about boxer Muhammad Ali, followed. The Sounds of Gold women with soloist Laura Hagen did the honors.

Denny Franz sang "Endless Love" followed by the Gold Tones version of "S'Wonderful." The Gold Tones are comprised of James Wonnacott (trumpet), Reinhold Toerek (trumpet), Dale Hildebrand (trombone), Mike Elkins (piano), Doug Day (bass), Rosario Cambria (drums) and Puttin' on the Glitz creator and director Ken Mehalko (saxophone and clarinet).

The first bit of comedy came way of Beverly Wehr, fresh from a yoga class, and Marcia Wonnacott, who had apparently just got off the tennis court. They harmonized on "Love Being Here with You."

Wonnacott commented, "There's a lot of love in tennis." Wehr said, "My friends said to go to yoga. I used to bite my fingernails. It will help you relax. I'm not sure it worked that well. I'm so flexible that now I can bite my toenails."

Fran Oriti followed with "Amor, Amor." The Sounds of Gold followed Oriti with "Celebration" and "Follow the Drinking Gold."

The penultimate section of the first act had John Stoughton Strong (Ted Larsen), the founding father of the city that bears his name, interacting with current Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak.

When asked by Perciak how many people he thought lived in Strongsville today, Strong responded with a quizzical "12?"

When Perciak informed him there were approximately 50,000 people living in the city today Strong said, "Where in the world do you fit 50,000 people in 25 square miles?"

Strong stated there were Indians in the area when the city was founded in 1816. Perciak said there were still Indians, the Cleveland Indians.

The first act concluded with members of the Glitz, including Perciak, dancing in the aisles to Ian Hunter's classic song "Cleveland Rocks."

The second act was titled "Music in Color." It began with "Green Dolphin Street" by the Gold Tones, "Bye, Bye Blackbird" by the Sounds of Gold, "Bein' Green" by the Sounds of Gold and "The Purple People Eater" by the Sounds of Gold men.

Charlotte Morar then sang "Blue Skies" followed by the Glitz Dancers kicking up their heels to "Blue Suede Shoes."

Gary Hackett and Craig Hardy performed a Smothers Brothers type of duet to "They Call the Wind Maria."

Sandy O'Shea sang "Blues in the Night," the Sounds of Gold sang "Blue Moon" and the cast concluded the performance with Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A."