by Jonathan Takiff

Philadelphia Daily News (MCT)

21 April 2008

Confidentially, Bob Silman hates the name of his senior citizens singing troupe, Young @ Heart, now also the title of a charming documentary film focused on their existence.

“Voting in that name was the last democratic decision we ever made,” grumbled the “tough but sweet” (and clearly dictatorial) choral director, who founded the group 25 years ago at a Northhampton, Mass., senior center - “since closed” - where he was employed (and bored) in food services.

Young@Heart

(Fox Searchlight; US theatrical: 9 Apr 2008)

Trailer

Official Site

“I do love that `Young at Heart’ song,” added Silman, 55 himself, and now also director of the Northhampton Arts Center. “But as a group identity, the name sounds way too sentimental. We aren’t that at all. We’ve thought about adopting another name. Geezers, for one, has an attitude we could get behind.”

Yeah, that moniker would go a lot better with the material that Silman and associate Dianne Porcella select for the now 27-member chorus to sing - surprisingly rowdy, rock and soul hits from the `60s to today, from railing-at-the-wind punk ditties like the Ramones’ “I Want to Be Sedated” to unbridled celebrations of the moment like James Brown’s “I Feel Good” to thoughtful reveries like Coldplay’s “Fix You.”

The tunes take on a whole new meaning and resonance when sung by white-haired seniors, some a mite wobbly in the knees.

“But now it’s too late to change the group’s name,” mourned Silman. “We’ve been branded. We’re stuck with it.”

The die was firmly cast when the group was touring the world a few years ago with a concert production called “Road to Nowhere” (named after the Talking Heads song) and caught the eyes and ears of London-based film director Stephen Walker and his producer/wife Sally George.

“I thought they were incredible. The lyrics took on a whole new meaning when sung by people of this age group,” Walker shared on a recent visit to town in the company of Silman and three cheery group members - Liria Petrides, 82, Joe Mitchell, 75, and Philadelphia-spawned transplant Helen Boston, 78. “It struck me we could do something very interesting about this generation through rock music - as a kind of rock opera about old age.”

The producing pair persuaded British television Channel 4 to finance a six-part “Young @ Heart” documentary series. For two months, their film crew followed the lives of the Massachusetts singing troupe as they learn new material (sometimes with great difficulty) and prepare for a big concert, and suffer from personal setbacks almost inevitable when the membership is in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

Some compelling music videos with the troupe, at turns angry as spit and downright daffy, were also created and thrown into the mix to highly entertaining effect.

Then the production team got the good idea to re-edit “Young @ Heart” as a feature-length documentary - with a new opening and ending, revised story arcs and a pumped-up soundtrack to make the music really pop.

After its premiere at the L.A. Film Festival, a “feeding frenzy” of interest by Hollywood studios was sparked, with Fox Searchlight winning the right to distribute the film nationally. And they’re treating it with great respect. The same team that created the marketing campaigns for “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Sideways” and “Once” have been on the project.

It’s going to hit 250 to 300 screens in about 100 cities, a much wider market than the typical arthouse documentary enjoys, and if the film keeps getting great reviews and audience response could go wider still. “It’s the little engine that could, a documentary that really touches people,” said Silman.

One big message of the movie, and from the group, is that “music keeps you young,” observed chorus member Petrides, a 21-year veteran of the ensemble whose only previous singing experience - way back when - had been in her high school choir.

“Learning, memorizing these songs, it’s a good exercise, it keeps your mind alert,” added Joe Mitchell. He was lured into the fold by family - a sister-in-law who was already singing in the group, and a brother-in-law who’s the drummer in Y@H’s surprisingly hot band.

“Plus, it’s great for socializing,” noted Mitchell. “The entire group has become like my extended family, although we’re kinda scattered. One guy travels 45 miles to come to the weekly rehearsal. I only have to travel 26.”

That’s nothing compared to Helen Boston, who was living out near Coatesville, Pa., with her now 95-year-old mother and driving a school bus when she got the bug to join the group. One of her daughters, a Northhampton resident, knew Bob, and pushed mom to check out a Young @ Heart rehearsal while she was visiting.

“I was sitting, watching, listening. I’m thinking, these people are older than me, or my age, but look at how they’re acting!” Boston shared with a grin. “It was so free. Bob asked me if I’d like to get up and perform with them. I said, `Sure.’ I didn’t know the songs but I was singing with them and it made me feel so good. Then at the next rehearsal, they asked me back and to sing something solo. That’s how they decide who gets to do what. I sang a church song and they all joined in. Next thing I know, they’ve accepted me in the group.”

Boston came home, quit her job, picked up mom, filled up a truck with furniture and moved to Massachusetts. “A few weeks later, we were off to Switzerland for a tour.”