Seniors Rock the House

Discounting gray-haired folks doesn’t cut it, especially when we’re talking about talent. The recent first Annual Seniors Have Talent variety show in Santa Barbara demonstrated that fact. This inaugural event was sponsored by Santa Barbara’s Center for Successful Aging. 

 

On stage at the gorgeous, historic Marjorie Luke Theatre, scores of mature adults danced, sang, and played musical instruments with the enthusiasm of contestants on America’s Got Talent. With the professional air and confidence of seasoned entertainers, they took the stage, delighting the sold-out audience and sending us down Memory Lane. Toes tapped, heads bobbed, and smiles spread wide as the 800 of us took it all in.

Sparkly costumes and precision moves hallmarked the performances of Santa Barbara Treble Clef Chorus, a Sweet Adelines choir; Girls’ Night Out, a reincarnation of the famed Andrews Sisters; and the fast-stepping women of Santa Barbara Silver Follies. The dozen-and-a-half women in the troupe, Hula Anyone, transported us across the sea to the islands with their soft, barefoot tread and swaying bodies.

A woman in her 90s flawlessly played “Chopin Nocturne in C Sharp Minor.” An 80-something woman had suffered a stroke several years before, but her singing voice was the first of her skills to return during recovery. She belted out “Climb Every Mountain” while holding the microphone with one hand and the other on her walker. 

Anke, Marie, Dennis, Annis and Karen at Intermission

Four of us, Dennis, Karen, Anke, and I, drove over from Bakersfield to see the show. We basked in the melodious tones of our friend Marie Parks, who sang “Un Amore Per Sempre.” in Italian. The second act in the show, she warmed our hearts and made us proud with her moving rendition of the beautiful love song.

Though talented and dedicated, like Marie, most of these seniors were not life-long professional performers. For example, one woman singing a Hawaiian number accompanied herself on the ukulele. She’d begun ukulele lessons five years earlier, at age 75.

This uplifting show, with its huge variety of quality acts, demonstrated that even as we approach a “certain age,” seniors have the need and ability to share their artistic gifts. 

But, even more profound, it struck me that while watching strangers perform on a stage I’d felt a sense of pride. I’d seen a reflection of myself -- an older adult whose thirst for adventure and desire to remain active trumps a few aches and pains. Witnessing their passion reaffirms my keenness to be an active participant in the rest of my life. 

~ xoA ~

"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength." 

Betty Friedan (1921-2006)