Prior to Tuesday night, my only experience with elderly singers came in the form of a woefully understaffed and under-rehearsed church choir. Needless to say, the Young @ Heart chorus turned that idea upside down on Tuesday, rocking the Moore theater in the Hop with hit songs, old and new.
From start to finish, the Young @ Heart Chorus charmed and pleased, hamming it up more than most stand-up comedians and entertaining the audience more than most stadium rockers. Bruce Springsteen echoed off of the balcony, Outkast's "Hey Ya" cracked up the crowd, and "Forever Young" left few dry eyes in the house. And through it all, 22 people between the ages of 71 and 93 looked like they were having the times of their well-lived lives.
Formed in Northampton, Mass. in 1982, The Young @ Heart Chorus has performed around the world, taking stage shows and choruses on the road in Europe, Canada, Australia and the US since 1983. The members range in experience from former professionals to first-time performers, sharing only their age bracket and the stage. Although the current tour includes none of the original members from 1982, they continue to represent, in the words of director Bob Cilman, "a really interesting version of what you can be as an older person".
And they are, without question, just that. Both talented and inspirational, serious and sassy, every member of the chorus played an integral role in the performance. A tall gentleman with a voice like Johnny Cash gave a tongue-in-cheek feel to Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia". A gray-haired woman dressed in black awed the audience with Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." A seated man with a cane stands up slowly and chuckles before imploring, "Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor," and asking the women on stage to "Shake it, sugar," during "Hey Ya". Each and every singer performed with pizzazz and character.
I can't imagine an audience not falling in love with the Young @ Heart Chorus. Numerous times throughout the concert the crowd burst into spontaneous applause, clapping along with familiar tunes and even providing a clapped beat for a pre-filmed video. Cat-calls could be heard during the more provocative numbers, and a standing ovation followed both the main performance and the encore. Laughter and smiles were ubiquitous.
But the Young @ Heart Chorus didn't receive this adoration just for being old. The members of the troupe earned every round of applause they got, sending an inspirational message to members of the audience both young and old. Solos were sung with heartfelt gusto, and the more able-bodied members of the chorus danced around the stage during peppy numbers.
Each song had a purpose as well, from references to getting prescriptions filled to sly winks during lines about cross-dressing. Jimmy Hendrix's "Purple Haze" mocked the senility that accompanies old age, while the show's closer, "Forever Young," wished eternal youth upon every member of the audience. Throughout the entire night, perhaps no lyric sounded more hollow than "I've got no reason to live" from The Strokes' "Ask Me Anything". If the concert showed anything, it was a joy for life.
The performance kicked off with a short video featuring media clips and interviews with a few of the singers. Broadcasters sang the praises of the chorus in German and French, and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show reported the complaints of hotels who were upset that the group "leaves rooms neater than they found them." But most importantly, a hard-of-hearing member of the chorus sent a message of inspiration, saying that anyone "can get up and do the same if they want."
In the end, that is the moral of the story told by the Young @ Heart Chorus. It is possible to age gracefully. It is possible to grow old without growing boring. It is possible to have white hair, a hearing aid and a device that helps you breathe, and still disco dance while singing "Stayin' Alive".
The Young @ Heart Chorus is simply 20 or so senior citizens who followed the advice of a Finch song they cover, striving to "do something different." The result: abundant smiles and a few tears from audience members and performers alike.
