“Senior Moments”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - July 2010

This week has been a real refresher course for me in what makes musical comedy work. First I saw Pool Boy, which didn’t work on any level even though a lot of very talented people had invested tons of time and money in it. Then I saw Damn Yankees which is an implausible but entertaining old warhorse from 1955 that was a whole lot of fun. And then last night I saw Senior Moments which, while it is no masterpiece, was a pleasant evening of dinner theatre with many more memorable tunes and laughs than Pool Boy managed to scrounge together.

What makes it work? I think the secret lies in a) experience, and b) not trying too hard to make a show something it isn’t. Carl Ritchie, who has written the book and directed Senior Moments, and composer Wayne Moore have no illusions that they are doing anything more than providing their audience with a few hours of entertainment and a nice meal by the shores of beautiful Copake Lake. The show is selling out and everyone is happy.

The only sad thing here is that Ritchie and Moore, who penned last season’s hilarious hit revue I Know I Came In Here for Something…The Middle-Aged Musical are capable of creating work that is more than just pleasant. There are a few Senior Moments that rise to the level of hilarity and honesty they attained last year, but the decision to give this show a plot (why?) and the shift from the foibles of middle-age to the really serious issues facing folks over 65 – widowhood, loss of independence, dementia, death – render this attempt at comedy much less successful.

But after a painfully slow start – mandated by that pesky old plot – the characters get established, the songs come faster and funnier, and everything settles into that level of pleasantness that I initially described. The cast is anchored by Diedre Devere Bollinger – the only hold-over from I Know I Came in Here for Something – as Sharon, a 39-year-old New York City actress/playwright/director who decides to write and stage a show called “Senior Moments” to pass the time while she is staying temporarily in a retirement community to care for her elderly mother who is recovering from a heart attack.

Only three people show up for auditions – the lusty Audrey played by Rachel Weisman, (think Rue McClanahan), the sweet and slightly dotty Marion played by 77-year-old Faith Compo (think Betty White) and the randy, aggressive Frank, played by Marvin Shapiro – but the show must go on and the rest of the show takes Sharon and her cast through their rehearsals and up to opening night. Along the way the “Age Police” try to evict Sharon for staying too long in the retirement community – the rules state that people under 55 cannot live there and can only visit for a maximum of two weeks – forcing her to disguise herself as her own elderly Aunt Ruth in order to stay (her other option – marrying Frank – she quickly dismisses!)

Bollinger is an appealing performer, a strong comedienne, and a fine singer. She exudes confidence and charm on stage, which thankfully makes up for the moments when the rest of the cast seem slow and hesitant in their actions. Compo, Weisman, and Shapiro are all talented and experienced performers with impressive resumes, so I can only attribute their ponderous timing on…age.

Early on Ritchie has Sharon quote Bette Davis’ immortal statement: “Old age is no place for sissies.” And she was dead right! I love how the media periodically report, with inexplicable amazement, that elderly people are prone to depression. Well, duh! Facing the distressing decay of the body and the mind that accompany the inevitability of our mortality is no easy matter. And I think our new mania for forcing “happy pills” down their throats is simply ludicrous. Dancing about shouting “Yippee! I’m dying!” is not my definition of mental health, but again the media (gotta love ‘em!) present us with endless images of happy, horny, joke-cracking old folks.

Ritchie thankfully does not go too far down that path. His threesome is honest about their difficulties, and the fact that they still enjoy sex, but they aren’t allowed to become insulting cartoons. The two oldest members of the cast – Shapiro and Compo – get touching numbers in the second act, he a fine ballad about how deeply he misses his late wife, and she a song about how we all need to look past exterior appearance entitled A Kid Inside:

“A kid inside
That may not be
What people see
When first they take a look at me
They see my hair
Or what I wear
But there is something else in there.”

These lyrics are not the best example of Ritchie’s talents, which really shine in witty numbers like the duet for Audrey and “Ruth” – I Hate Viagra which is easily the funniest number in the show – or It Takes Three to Cha-Cha-Cha:

“When Iran still had a Shah
How they loved to cha-cha-cha
But it had its last hurrah
With that nasty coup d’etat
It was then the Grand Pooh-Bah
Who they call the great Mullah
Went and issued a fatwa
No cha-cha-cha…etcetera”

Moore pens standard format show tunes, but there is variety in the style and meter and real wit in many of the lyrics.

As the evening went on I came to appreciate Compo, Weisman and Shapiro, whose work I hadn’t seen before, more and more. Compo has a fine singing voice and a happy twinkle in her eye. Weisman is a grand looking dame with a good grip on the sarcastic woman she is playing. I wish she attacked her songs with a little more vigor and confidence. And Shapiro makes the apparently crude and misogynist Frank more and more likable as the evening progresses and he reveals the character’s layers.

I mentioned the piles of money invested in Pool Boy, and, while the Mac-Haydn doesn’t have very deep pockets, they budget their resources wisely. In comparison, Senior Moments is strictly a low-budget affair. Helen Schneider has whipped up a couple of hilarious costumes for Bollinger, but mostly the actors wear their own street clothes. And I trust actors and their excellent piano accompanist John Moran are paid for their services.

The Lighthouse Marina is a modest bar and restaurant – and marina – on the shores of Copake Lake. A stage area just about big enough for four actors to execute a couple of dance steps on has been built up high enough to afford a good view for everyone in the audience, and curtains have been hung at the back and on either side to create a modicum of wing and backstage space for props and costume changes. At one point during the performance I attended the stage lights went out, but it didn’t really matter because it was still daylight out.

The audience I attended with, many of whom were senior citizens, seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. I didn’t have dinner this year, but I did last year and found the food and drink to be tasty and cheering, which is as essential for good dinner theatre as the show itself and adds to audience’s good spirits. I wish I could say that Senior Moments is as side-splitting as I Know I Came In Here for Something was, but its not. However it is good fun and, let’s face it, entertaining dinner theatre beside a beautiful lake is a pretty darned good way to spend a summer’s evening with a friend or lover.

The Taconic Stage Company production of Senior Moments plays Fridays & Saturdays (Dinner at 7 p.m. ~ Show at 8 p.m.) through August 7 at the Lighthouse Marina, 351 Lakeview, Craryville, NY. Tickets for dinner and the show are $40, and you can choose grilled filet mignon or grilled salmon as your entrée. The show runs just under two hours with one intermission, during which dessert and coffee are served. Call 518-352-1234 or e-mail TaconicStage@aol.com for reservations and information.

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