Stages of life: UNLV’s Senior Adult Theatre Program continues to thrive

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 | 8:45 a.m.

Decades ago Lori Sanchez had dreams of performing on New York stages.

She had taken what seemed to be the necessary steps in an actor's life. The Chicago native graduated from De Paul University in her hometown, then headed to New York City for her "big career."

"But then," she says reflectively, "I had my babies. I became the little housewife and mother."

In an upcoming play presented this week at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Sanchez will portray a widowed woman who scoffs at the idea of romance at her age.

"Romance," she says from the stage, "a game for the young."

But for Sanchez, this couldn't be further from the truth. For the petite auburn-haired woman in her 60s says she has finally returned to her "first love."

"I couldn't wait," said Sanchez, who is among nearly 100 seniors who participate in UNLV's Senior Adult Theatre Program each year. "We're all hams, you see. Once you've been in the theater, you can't resist it."

UNLV is the first school in the nation to offer a bachelor of arts degree in senior adult theater. Acting, directing, lighting and playwriting are some of the classes senior adults can choose from.

The program was founded in 1990. It became an almost instant success.

"The classes were filled," Ann McDonough, the program's co-founder and director, said. "We had to add extra sections and start new classes. That led to a start of a degree."

To celebrate its season, the program will host its annual Senior Adult Theatre Festival this week in Paul Harris Theatre.

The festival features five 10-minute plays written by UNLV graduate students that focus on issues related to today's active seniors, and help to break otherwise stereotypical images of ailing older adults.

Relationships and romance are predominant themes.

One short play examines what happens between two friends living in a retirement community when one chooses exercise over feeding the ducks at the park. Another delves humorously into the scandal of a woman inviting a young man to play mahjongg with her and her two friends. Another portrays a romantic relationship between a widowed woman and her brother-in-law.

Only one play deals with the more serious issue of an aging couple on a cruise ship as one spouse's illness redefines the relationship

"I like to think that through senior theater we are changing the image of older adults -- that aging is a developmental phase and not necessarily a degenerative one," said McDonough, who is also director of UNLV's gerontology program.

Or as Sanchez, who will perform opposite 78-year-old longtime actor George Cohan in "The Fountain," explained, "Not everybody plays bridge. They're not just sitting home watching television.

"We're just like everybody else. We just have more time now."

Growth spurt

Nationwide, senior theater groups (which can include follies, short skits, dance and personal monologues) are growing at a steady pace.

Bonnie Vorenberg, publisher at ArtAge Publications, which publishes a national senior adult theater newsletter, said there are roughly 400 such groups in the United States.

In August an international Senior Adult Theatre Festival in Columbus, Ohio, drew more than 150 seniors from around the world, including eight from UNLV.

Douglas Hill, assistant director of UNLV's Senior Adult Theatre Program, likens the growing popularity of senior adult theater to the emergence of the children's theater movement in the 1960s.

The rapidly growing senior population helps fuel the interest in acting, an interest that is expected to keep growing, Hill said.

"We really are on the cutting edge of this new theater area," Hill said. "It's been happening in pockets around America for the last century. But was isolated."

Now, he said, "We're living longer. We're healthy. The Baby Boomers are going to be turning 65. There's going to be a whole wash of people with time on their hands where they finally get to play. They come out of the woodwork and say, 'Ya know, I did what everyone else told me to do. Now I want to do what I want to do.'

"Some were dock workers in New Jersey. Some have been doing theater all their lives. I have one lady who was in charge of leading all the pageants in her church."

Because the acting backgrounds of the seniors vary, the program draws introverts as well as those who have little inhibition on stage.

"I get people who have never had the chance to open up or get in front of people," Hill said. "Others are almost fearless in what they challenge themselves to do onstage."

Some students take classes for self-fulfillment. Others, Hill said, "go on to do great things" in theater.

"They funnel that knowledge not only back into our programs but programs throughout town," he said. "We have a student who went through the traditional directing class and she directed some shows for the short play festival.

"They've done several movies, 'Oceans 11,' 'Casino,' 'Rat Race.' One person said they had to drop the next class and said, 'I'm too busy working in the field.'

"It's a fascinating melting pot. It's anybody who ever wanted to run away with the circus."

Popular program

Performances typically target senior audiences. Seniors appreciate the productions because there are so few entertainment options for older people, Vorenberg said. A person who is 70 years or older gets nothing from mass media that reflects his or her life, she said.

But audiences are broadening with the growth of senior theater. At UNLV representatives are encouraging actors to participate in mixed-age casts.

"We mainstream," McDonough said. "We encourage our senior theater students to audition for the whole season. One plus is that the generations are mixing."

Those in the industry say including seniors in theater not only gives seniors a voice, but provides younger audiences the opportunity to look into the lives of older generations.

"The more we understand seniors, the more we understand our own lives," Vorenberg said. "Seniors become role models of admiration."

There is no shortage of topics for senior adult plays. Subject matter ranges from dating to romance to drug use to problems with medical prescriptions to returning to such youthful activities as motorcycle riding.

At seniortheatre.com there is a clearinghouse of information regarding senior theater, including books, plays, groups, artists and professionals in the field.

McDonough has published several books for seniors that cover basic acting, teaching techniques (that include actors with slight physical limitations) and monologues.

With seniors, McDonough said, "The goals are the same but the methods are different ... They can't always hear themselves in terms of projecting and they have to focus more on memory."

But, she added, "They have this rich experience to draw from. They can translate that into their acting."