NYCs senior citizen improv class says ‘yes, and’…
It’s a Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn Heights, and Pamela has just arrived at her bachelorette celebration.
It’s a peculiar one: The bride-to-be seems to be a bespectacled 80-something with a sensible coral coat and vital listening to loss. There’s nothing but imaginary salt and pepper on the fold-up desk. Plus, the three males posing as Pamela’s ex-husbands are the only company there. “You’re going to be such a cute bride,” one says. “Again…and again…and again.”
The scene devolves from there.
See Pamela sing “Blue Suede Shoes” in response to husband No. 1’s reminiscence of their time in Graceland. Listen as Pamela sneezes at husband No. 2’s clumsy handling of the “pepper shaker.” Laugh when husband No. 3’s plea for a neck rub provides rise to a more sinister concept: “I could kill him,” Pamela says, arms descending upon her ex’s collared neck.
Every other week, a two-hour improv class for seniors is held at the St. Charles Jubilee Older Adult Center in Brooklyn. Emmy Park for NY Post
And so concludes the ultimate exercise in Tuesday’s improv class, sometimes held every other week in a barebones classroom at the St. Charles Jubilee Older Adult Center on Pierrepont Street.
Operated by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, which runs 20 Older Adults Centers across the 2 boroughs, the gathering — like all the group’s programming — is free.
The two-hour meetup attracts around 20 locals ranging from a 61-year-old skilled actor and singer to an 86-year-old emergency medication doctor to a 97-year-old Auschwitz survivor. But right here, they’re none of that. They’re snow plows one minute, entrants in a Marilyn Monroe lookalike contest the next.
“That was so bad it was good!” the troupe’s venerable chief, actor-turned-communications advisor Stanley Zareff, 82, is fond of repeating. He volunteered to launch the class about two years in the past to construct confidence and connection — as nicely as bodily and mental flexibility among a population that’s stereotypically caught in their methods.
“The overall goal of it is to give them a space to be creative, imaginative; to go back to that little interpersonal child of theirs; to free up some of their inhibitions and to get through some of their daily cognitive or health issues,” he told The Post.
But for the regulars, it’s principally just enjoyable. “When you come here and you can laugh, it just changes everything,” Audrey Scholl, an 84-year-old former dictaphone typist, or audio transcriptionist, said. “It makes life worth living, practically.”
Improv(e)ing health
Improv — short for improvisational theater, for the uninitiated — is a common interest among Zillenniel New Yorkers looking for mates and flirtations, and a start line for the proficient and persistent few that develop into full-fledged skilled comedians.
Improv is also a highly effective growing older intervention. Research exhibits it could improve depressive symptoms, well-being and social connectedness, Emmy Park for NY Post
It can also be a skill-building endeavor for everybody from C-suite executives to personal growth fanatics trying to bust out of their consolation zones and apply collaborating on the fly.
“In improv, you agree and accept — you know that’s the main rule,” Zareff reminded his Tuesday class.
But improv is also a highly effective growing older intervention, though maybe an under-appreciated one.
“They’re not proving anything to anyone. And while they may be a little nervous, they’re brave. And that’s the bottom line: Be brave.” Stanley Zareff
Research exhibits that the apply can improve depressive symptoms, well-being and social connectedness, as nicely as cognitive expertise like consideration and reminiscence in older adults. It can notably benefit people with dementia by boosting temper, vanity and communication expertise.
“Improv emerges as a simple and elegant tool that can induce not only cognitive changes but also emotional and social changes in aging,” the examine authors said.
Research also exhibits improv can increase cognitive expertise like consideration and reminiscence in older adults. Emmy Park for NY Post
Another examine discovered that taking courses in one thing new, be it portray or iPad proficiency, can lead adults ages 58 to 88 to improve their cognition to ranges on par with adults a full 30 years their junior.
There’s motive to imagine improv might have a related impact. “As soon as you get up there, [Zareff] tells you what to do, and you have to act it out,” Toni Della, 71, said. “So you have to be quick … because if you’re not, you’ll freeze up.”
Sheila Small, 86, was afraid that may occur to her a few classes back when Zareff instructed members to lip sync a track of their alternative. Small, a shy former elementary college instructor, requested to sit the exercise out.
It’s operated by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, which runs 20 Older Adults Centers across the 2 boroughs Emmy Park for NY Post
But after some encouragement from the charming-but-firm Zareff — “You don’t have to do it, but if you don’t, I think you’re going to be missing out,” he said — Small took the stage to carry out Ethel Merman’s rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
“I couldn’t believe it — I didn’t have to do anything. All I had to do there was open up my mouth and have the words come out, and all of a sudden I was Ethel Merman,” Small recalled. “After that experience, anything that Stanley said, ‘do,’ I did, and I think all of us are like that.”
Indeed, Zareff finds his college students may be more open-minded than their youthful or skilled counterparts.
“They’re not proving anything to anyone,” he said. “And while they may be a little nervous, they’re brave. And that’s the bottom line: Be brave.”
Actor-turned-communications advisor Stanley Zareff, 82, is the troupe’s chief. Emmy Park for NY Post
Elizabeth Valenti, 83, is just that. The former phone company worker had a coronary heart assault three years in the past, and wasn’t anticipated to survive. Then last yr, she wound up in the hospital, and then nursing home, with pneumonia and the flu.
“I wasn’t supposed to make it, but I always said that God kept me here for a purpose and showed me that life is still worth living,” Valenti said. Some of that function is realized through improv. “I make people smile, make them laugh — that’s why I’m still here right now.”
Taking senior heart stage
Prior to Pamela’s bachelorette celebration, Zareff’s buddy and former “Funny Thing” forged mate Mauricio Bustamante led the class in a rest exercise.
“This saves money on plastic surgery,” he said when directing members to release rigidity in their foreheads.
An Earth, Wind & Fire-fueled dance celebration — populated by walkers and sometimes interrupted by Zareff’s instructions to “freeze!” — adopted.
“I can hardly walk,” Valenti said, “but I can dance.”
Later got here the day’s central exercise: The seniors, who’d come ready with track lyrics of their alternative, paired off to create skits that by some means merged the 2 songs’ storylines. “Instead of singing the song, just say the words,” Zareff said. “And by the way, listen to each other. Support each other.”
Zareff encourages members to step outdoors of their consolation zones. Emmy Park for NY Post
One mashup that ensued included two ladies sipping champagne at a Parisian cafe while bonding over their damaged hearts. “I will survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive,” one said. Her buddy was less optimistic. “Bye-bye love, bye-bye happiness, hello loneliness,” she said. “I think I’m going to cry.”
“Yay!” the viewers cheered after Zareff called, “Curtain!” “You spoke up, you stayed in character,” he applauded. “I think you both deserve some champagne.”
It’s high but not uncommon reward from Zareff, who studied theater in school and graduate college, and joined the Colorado Shakespeare Festival before shifting to New York. He toured nationally as a lead in “A Funny Thing That Happened on the Way to the Forum,” labored at the Roundabout Theater, and studied alongside then-emerging celebrities including Bernadette Peters and Richard Gere.
“I think everybody feels like this is the clubhouse, and you’re members of the club,” said one common. “It’s a very good feeling.” Emmy Park for NY Post
While Zareff finally constructed a profitable profession teaching executives in company America, he continued to train performing workshops around the nation and world — and has watched his college students land roles in national productions of exhibits like “Wicked,” “Chicago” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
In other phrases, he’s past certified to instruct a quirky assortment of growing older beginner thespians for free. But it’s price it.
“Even though I’m in a very high-end neighborhood, some of these people live alone in a studio; they don’t have a family anymore; they rely on being able to come and have a lunch here, as well as play bingo or mahjong or attend an art class or do chair yoga or folk dancing,” he said. “They have somewhere to go, and that means a lot to me.”
An ER doc and improv common recognized as “Dr. Jon” likens the senior heart to the bar from “Cheers.” “I think everybody feels like this is the clubhouse, and you’re members of the club,” he said. “It’s a very good feeling.”
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