Sunday, April 27, 2008

Young @ Heart

The Young @ Heart Chorus is an inspiration. This afternoon, I saw a screening of the new documentary Young @ Heart, and after the film, the chorus performed! In a word, it was amazing! The Young @ Heart Chorus is a group out of North Hampton, MA, comprised of 70 and 80 somethings. Despite the gray hair, gnarled fingers and bum hips and knees, these people have more spunk, heart, talent and energy than most people I know. They are internationally acclaimed and, oh, did I mention their set lists features cover songs from the Rolling Stones to Radiohead? The film is well done, but it had nothing on the performance. It was the first time the group had performed with the film. They sang over a dozen songs, and at one point a young man was enticed to get up on the stage and shake it down with the group during Walk on the Wild Side. It was great! I was sitting between a couple in their early 30s, on my left, rockin' to the tunes of Sonic Youth, and, on my right, a couple in their eighties, who's daughter in California had bought their tickets. The wife was singing along during Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark. There were many standing ovations, the Q&A was lively, and for me, this afternoon was true testimony to two old adages, "music is the universal language" and "age is only a number"! See this film when it comes to your town, it is inspiring!

4 comments:

2 Dollar Productions said...

I've read a lot of good things about this one, and seen the trailer a few times as well.

I'm glad you liked it so much as I think it will be playing at the arthouse here in town relatively soon.

On a different note, I rented and watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" this weekend. It was very good, and all the acting was superb, but I seem to be building a low tolerance for those kinds of films where all the characters dig themselves deeper and deeper into the muck. It just puts me in a foul mood, and affects my enjoyment.

Linda said...

2D~Devil... is one sorry group of characters, for sure. I was in a bit of a funk after watching that one. Good flick though.

On the other hand, Young@Heart so uplifting!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you can't really go wrong with that group of characters and performances. It was nice to see that people over 60 can still get out and have a great time!

Linda said...

Marina~Shows that age has little to do with having a good time!