No Golden Oldies

By Marty Michaels

The 23 members of the Young@Heart Chorus range in age from 73 to 92, and many say they enjoy hobbies common to the older set: gardening, knitting, spending time with grandchildren.

But their musical repertoire is far less predictable — onstage, chorus members belt out classic rock, punk, and other contemporary music in a theatrical style that blends panache and poignancy.

“Initially they hate some of the songs,” admits Bob Cilman, the chorus’s director. “But they end up liking them when the audience appreciates them.”

Mr. Cilman founded the chorus in Northampton, Mass., in 1982 as a way to entertain residents at a retirement home where he helped serve meals. When residents wearied of performing old standards, Mr. Cilman, who has played in rock bands, suggested more-contemporary songs.

Some of the singers have performed professionally or in amateur productions, while others are novices.

“Over the years, I’ve had to raise the age limit from 60 to 65 to 73,” says the director. “It’s crucial that they’re too old to know the songs. Otherwise they’d just be doing covers, and probably bad ones at that.”

Many incarnations later, Young@Heart continues its longtime collaboration with No Theater, a local group that helps stage its work. The chorus, which also includes four professional musicians, is embarking this month on a tour that includes European festivals, playing to houses that sell out well in advance.

The group operates on a $200,000 annual budget, and gets most of its money from fees for performances and ticket sales.

Young@Heart’s current production is Road to Nowhere, a show about older adults who cannot afford to retire. The numbers include “Fake Plastic Trees,” by Radiohead; “I Wanna Be Sedated,” by the Ramones; and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” by the Animals.

“There’s definitely a sense of alienation and estrangement,” says Mr. Cilman. “We use real, live people to convey that they’re not happy all the time, things aren’t always great, but it’s better than where they could be.”

Here, Eileen Hall, 92, rehearses with other chorus members at the Florence Community Center, in Northampton.