When Sanna Longden heard about an opportunity for older adults to perform an adaptation of “Singin’ in the Rain,” a musical she already knew top to bottom, she was quick to share the news. Before long, three of her friends were signed up too.
Longden and her friends are among the seven “vintage actors,” who have been working on the show alongside Northwestern students throughout the quarter, according to the production’s program. Led by Communication Prof. Brianna Borger, who is also an academic advisor, the cohort of undergraduates is enrolled in a theatre practicum that involves teaching and rehearsing with the older adults twice a week.
The group is set to perform “Singin’ in the Rain SR.,” an hourlong edition by Music Theatre International. The show originally had just one performance scheduled for this Sunday, but added a second later in the day due to high demand.
Longden, who led a dance group in Evanston and had a career as a world dance educator, said the show is part of an effort for the city to better integrate older people into its culture.
She added that a particularly enjoyable part of being in the show is singing along to the piano accompaniment by Bienen and Communication first-year Henry Tate, the show’s music director.
“I love the singing part because that’s the part I know the best, but I love singing with Henry playing,” Longden said. “It’s made a big difference. We couldn’t do it without him.”
Tate said he grew up singing Christmas carols at senior living homes and spent five weeks shadowing a music therapist at a senior living home for his senior capstone internship in high school.
He said he is learning from his voice teacher, Bienen Prof. Karen Brunssen, who has researched and written about the way voices change as people age.
“It definitely becomes more difficult to sing (as you age), and I have spent a lot of time with my voice teacher talking about the science behind it,” Tate said. “It has a lot to do with how your hormonal levels change later in life.”
Borger said when Angela Allyn, the Community Arts Program coordinator for the Evanston Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, asked her to lead one of MTI’s senior adaptations, she immediately thought it would be a good partnership with NU.
She added that one of the things that motivated her to lead the program was the benefits of theater for older performers.
“I’m a voice teacher and theater director by trade, so I was really excited to work with the senior demographic just because I know and have witnessed the power that working on a piece like this and exercising your voice in this way, the power that has,” Borger said.
She said watching the “vintage actors” and NU students bond was “spectacular.”
“They’ve just all become buds, and the performers trust the students inherently, and the students are so wonderful at gently giving them a tap on the shoulder, saying like, ‘You gotta go up right now,’ or ‘Here’s your prop,’ or ‘Put this hat on,’ and it’s a pretty well-oiled machine now,” Borger said.
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