Community leader by day, singer and dancer by night.

That description now fits Liz Tierney, president of the Junior Service League of Rome, and many other local performers. The 36th presentation of the JSL Follies opened Friday and continues tonight.

The program, titled “As Seen on TV,” is a series of short skits that are light-hearted tributes to well-known television shows from over the years, ranging from “I Love Lucy” to the different versions of “CSI.”

General admission is $15 for adults and $8 for children younger than 10. The show will start tonight at 8 p.m. in the Rome City Auditorium, 601 Broad St.

Patron’s tickets are $50 and include priority seating and access to a pre-party with hors d’oeuvres and drinks that starts at 6 p.m. at the Seven Hills Church building.

Proceeds aside from those covering the production cost will go back into the community, as the JSL donates to local nonprofits.

“We’re hoping to help a lot of organizations with proceeds from the Follies, as a lot of worthy causes are short of funds due to the economy,” said Tierney.

Since the Follies are only held every other year, the JSL has plenty of time to plan the event.

The performers do not have two years to prepare. Instead, the script only arrived three weeks ago when director Chris Fettig came from his northern Pennsylvania home to present it to potential performers.

The cast, formed less than a month ago, is a mix of old faces from past Follies and new performers, Tierney added.

The small band in the orchestra pit had even less time to prepare, according to drummer Jedd Lovel.

“We’ve been here until 10:30 or 11 every night since Sunday,” Lovel said. “It’s good to get to Friday.”

Last night’s performance was a two-hour set of skits reminiscent of an old “variety hour” television show, with some performers playing multiple characters. For example, Wendell Barnes went from being a singing Archie Bunker at one point to a cynical Andy Rooney a few skits later.