Seniors kick up their heels in a variety show

Saturday, Oct. 16, 1999 | 8:55 a.m.

It's 45 minutes until showtime.

The arriving showgirls stroll casually down the narrow hallway, carrying garment bags and makeup kits.

With smiles, they stop to greet others moving through the hallway, give a hug and a peck on the cheek, then disappear into their makeshift dressing room, where voices grow in volume as new arrivals enter.

Some set up their stations, others sew on fallen sequins. More than 30 women fit in their green-and-white costumes for their performance, "The Drill."

These are not, however, twentysomething showgirls backstage at a casino showroom.

Most of them are grandmothers, some who began dancing only five years ago. All are over the age of 55. One -- Kitty Duarte -- is 84.

Together they make up the Bobbie Jean & Friends variety show, a lively troupe of tap, country-line and ballroom dancers and singers.

"Most of us are old professionals from long ago," 68-year-old Bobbie Jean Denny says. "Now that we're settled in Las Vegas we've decided to pool our talents and do shows for charities."

They've performed sold-out shows benefiting battered women and the Alzheimer's Association. They've taken their act into hospitals, nursing homes and convalescent centers.

As president of City of Hope in Sun City, Denny has brought the "girls," as she fondly calls them, together for fund-raisers in the senior community. Over the past two years, the act has raised more than $40,000 for City of Hope of Duarte, Calif. City of Hope researches cancer and provides treatment for cancer patients.

Denny moved to Las Vegas from Phoenix in 1991 with her husband of 43 years. He died a year later.

After his death "I had to have a window," Denny said. "Something that would open for me so I wouldn't be thinking of myself."

So she joined Sun City Dance Company, a 200-member group that performs at local fund-raisers and events.

Like many others, she had no experience when she joined. She had been a singer in her younger days -- even sat in a couple of times as a guest vocalist with Les Brown and his band. But when she joined the dance company, she had no idea what the future would bring.

That year she also formed Bobby Jean & Friends because she wanted to entertain people in nursing homes and convalescent homes.

"When we first started there were about six of us," she said. "Before I knew it, I was involved in entertainment all around town."

The six-woman troupe took its act to nursing and convalescent homes and hospitals. "We saw them smile. It made us smile," she said.

They began to add to the group. She still gets calls from people wanting to be in the shows. There are nearly a dozen acts showing up for performances two or three times a month.

Last week Denny and her troupe performed at the Jaycees State Fair. On occasion she will still give smaller shows.

As producer and director of the show, Denny is responsible for bringing the variety of acts under one roof.

On Sunday they were preparing to sachet, tap, kick, twirl and sing for the closing ceremonies of the Nevada Senior Olympics at the Showboat hotel-casino.

The lineup included Denny singing "Alexander's Ragtime Band," Ms. Senior Nevada singing "The Way We Were," a few dance numbers by the children and teens of Fern Adair Conservatory of the Arts, a cowboy polka, a few tap numbers, line dancers, a Mae West impersonator, a performance by a sign interpreter for the deaf and a drill team.

"We have a real wonderful show planned," Denny said outside the main ballroom as the acts were preparing. "Peggy Ryan and her TNT's will be performing ... they're all about 6 foot tall and gorgeous."

Peggy Ryan, who jokingly referred to herself as the "pin-up" girl for the seniors, is 75 years old. She's been dancing "73 years and nine months."

Ever since her mom put her on stage at the age of 3, Ryan has been performing: She starred on Broadway and appeared on television, including a role as Jack Lord's secretary, Jenny, on "Hawaii Five-0." She has more than 60 movies under her belt, 14 of which she made with Donald O'Connor.

In addition to performing she teaches dance.

"Most of my ladies are 60 and over," Ryan said backstage. "We dance in high cuts and false eyelashes."

When asked how performing at the age of 75 compares to performing at 20, Ryan responded simply: "No difference. It's just a ball.

"I've never not danced," she added. "I'll probably be 120 doing a chorus line on crutches."

Her group has been featured on Jerry Lewis' MDA Telethon, the annual local "30-30" dinners and at various charity performances.

The Sun City Dance Company, composed of 200 seniors, also hit the stage Sunday and often performs at various events.

"It's a whole new ballgame, ya know," Jen San Souci, a former Sun City dancer said as Ryan's TNT dancers powdered their faces and pulled on their fishnet stockings before the show.

All glamour aside, it's a matter of altruism for many of the performers, who say that making others smile is the draw.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Mike Schultz said.

At 57, Schultz is one of only two men in the show. This was the sixth performance of the week for him and his wife, Pat, 67.

In black Western gear with fringe, lace and stones, the two looked as if they belonged at the Grand Ole Opry. They have been performing together for 15 years, mainly ballroom and line dancing.

Earlier that day they had competed in a roller-skating competition for the Senior Olympics and they placed in dance and figure skating. Each received five medals. They also perform at nursing homes and hospitals.

"You think they're not responding," Pat Schultz said of some of the older seniors. "But go into the audience afterward and they grab onto your hands."

Donna Meyer, 70, directs the Sunshine Country Line Dancers. The group of five, ages 65 to 72, was formed about four years ago.

"When you retire and you're a senior, you're not sitting in a rocking chair," Meyer said. "You're out there."

And like the others, Meyer's group serves as an inspiration for other seniors. "A lot of places we go they're not active seniors, so it's a little up in their life."

The audience Sunday, however, was not one of those less-active crowds.

As the performers took the stage in cowboy boots and tap shoes, the athletic seniors in the crowd -- medals dangling from their necks -- cheered from their seats in the ballroom adorned with red, white and blue balloons.

The crowd clapped in time as Pat & Mike Schultz hop-stepped and twirled around the dance floor to "The Cowboy Polka."

Then it was Peggy Ryan's turn.

"Yea seniors!" she said as she moved onto the dance floor. "My name's Peggy Ryan. I'm 75 and I've got great legs.

"What a delight to face an audience that remembers the '40s," she said. "TNT stands for dynamite. It also stands for," she said tongue in cheek, "tits 'n' taps. We're going to show you right now that women over 55 do not self-destruct."

Never mind that one of "her girls" is 71 and a physical education teacher and another woman has five grown children, 14 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. As the tape crackled through the speakers, the women swayed their hips in time, with teeth sparkling through their stage smiles. Ryan began shaking her bootie.

Randall Powell, a 37-year-old tenor who was also performing that night, watched from backstage.

"For people who think that life is over when you retire," he said, "guess again."

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