Just when you thought it was safe to return to the theater, the Bend Follies are back — replete with dances, parody songs and skits satirizing all things sacred in Bend, from roundabouts to ale trails and beyond.

Although mocking the Bend lifestyle is a worthwhile endeavor all on its own, the annual event, now in its fifth year, serves another cause — it’s the main yearly fundraiser for the Tower Theatre Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the Tower.

According to Ray Solley, the foundation’s executive director, the Follies were born when the Tower was looking for a signature fundraiser — and wanted something uniquely its own rather than a golf tournament, lunch or dinner.

“We were trying to find something that only the Tower could do,” Solley said. The economics of bringing in a big-name performer wouldn’t quite work either, given the theater seats around 460.

Then someone on staff suggested they produce an in-house variety show similar to one at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint, Idaho.

“These events have been around for decades and decades,” Solley explained. “It started as producer types and production teams would go into cities and over the space of a couple of weeks would take civic leaders or heads of the chamber of commerce or the Kiwanis Club and teach them a couple of songs, bring in a couple of costumes and stage a local follies, a local variety show … as local fundraisers.”

Like Panida’s, the Bend Follies would be produced in-house, using “existing formats and knowledge, but let’s try to make it for Bend, and about Bend, and let’s put on a comedy show, a satire show that pokes fun at all of the cliches that are Central Oregon. And we decided that we needed to get as many civic and entertainment and education, business and political leaders as we could.”

It’s been a successful recipe. Over the past four years, the Follies have raised a total of $117,000 for the Tower Theatre Foundation.

This year’s Follies will again feature local stage performers such as David DaCosta and Dave Finch along with area athletes, TV types, civic leaders and political figures, including last year’s host, Bob Shaw, along with Sally Russell, Emily Kirk, Lee Anderson, Chris and Megan Horner, Scott Ramsay, Chuck Arnold and Peter Skrbek.

The cast of Thoroughly Modern Productions’ “Guys and Dolls,” coming to the Tower in early June, will make an appearance. Local comedian Chelsea Woodmansee will emcee the event.

Producing the Follies for the fifth time are Brad Ruder and Mike Nowak of Limelight Entertainment. Most of the writing is done by local comedians and improv performers such as Brad Knowles and Vanessa Farnsworth.

Some years are easier than others for coming up with fresh material, Ruder said.

“Sometimes we come to the table, and because we use stuff in the community as our humor, you have those years where there have been tons of things that have happened that we can make fun of,” he said. “Other times we have to fall back on the general Bend things that we make fun of on a regular basis.”

Likewise, it’s sometimes easier to get some folks who aren’t comedians or entertainers on stage than others.

“We have some people that have done it every year,” he said. “They’re like, ‘I know you guys are getting ready to go again. Do you have a place for me?’ So we have those people.

“And then people who don’t know what it is or haven’t done it before, it is that little bit of a challenge to convince them that we’re not going to ask them to do anything they’re not capable of doing,” Ruder said. “We’re also not asking them to memorize a Shakespeare play.”

Of all the evening’s songs, sketches and other entertainment, “honestly, the best bit of the night is BNN, which is Bended News Network,” Ruder said.

“It’s our take on Weekend Update from ‘Saturday Night Live.’ That’s a crowd favorite. Lee Anderson and Emily Kirk from News Channel 21 are the anchors for that, and they do a great job. So (it’s) basically a good night of entertainment for a good cause.”

Solley stressed that while nearly 70 percent of the Tower’s operating budget is covered by ticket and concession sales, “slightly more than 30 percent comes from donations, sponsorships and memberships and money that is contributed by public and private organizations and individuals,” he said, which helps support educational outreach and other programs of the Tower.

“It really is an organization that is more than just what you see on the marquee or what you see on the stage,” he said.

What: Bend Follies

When: 6:30 p.m. drinks and silent auction, 7:30 p.m. show time Saturday

Where: Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend

Cost: $18, $33 or $48 for VIP, plus fees (VIP includes free drink and post-show party at 5 Fusion)

Contact: towertheatre.org or 541-317-0700