Earlier this year, Joan Koebel had to put a familiar adage to good use: The show must go on.
It was a show that had already been rebooked and her troupe, Seniors Acting up, was suddenly down to four, less than half its members.
"And I thought, oh, this is going to be interesting," recalls Koebel. They didn't have their regular sound volunteer, so hooked up a CD machine with a mic through a small speaker, and the show went on.
"We managed," says Koebel with a laugh. She chalks up the afternoon's success to the experience of the group's members, and the fact that they have been together for so long. Most of the current members have been in the group for about eight years, and come with previous performing experience. Koebel, who notes that her title in the group is director but downplays her role a bit, is a retired teacher who spent most of her life involved in performing arts.
"I've always been involved in music and theatre, always, from the time I was a kid," she says.
She helped run productions in the school she last taught at, and still returns each year to help out. As an actor, she still performs on stage in various theaters across the Lower Mainland. When she retired from teaching, Koebel was looking for a place to sing again but didn't know what to do. "I wasn't really sure what I was looking for."
While visiting her mom in a care facility she happened to run into the entertainment co-ordinator there and they started chatting about the types of groups that were entertaining at the care facility. The co-ordinator suggested she check out Seniors Acting Up and Koebel has been with them ever since. The group performs various venues in the Lower Mainland, mostly at care facilities, seniors residences, and community centres, as well as specific group events.
"We'll entertain anywhere," Koebel reports with a laugh, but notes the content is mainly geared toward a senior audience.
"Our mandate is just to bring some fun, joy and music into the lives of people," explains Koebel.
All the members are seniors and they meet once a week for rehearsal at Silver Harbour Seniors Centre, where the group is registered as a program. They get together every Thursday morning for two hours from September to June and a little less during the summer. Each year they put together one production for the entire season that contains a variety of singing, skits, routines, and individual performances. An earlier incarnation of the group started out by doing plays, but it evolved over time into more of a variety show.
Currently there are eight members, and the group is always looking for more, especially men. There is an informal audition process, and candidates should have some performing experience, such as singing in a choir, or acting, singing, or dancing in a group or on stage. Despite the group's variety of performing backgrounds, Koebel says they don't generally have creative differences.
"We all have different strengths that we bring, and I think everybody recognizes the different strengths that people have and support them because of it."
Seniors Acting Up will be performing at the opening ceremonies for the B.C. Senior Games in August.
