The Christian Community Theater presented the musical "Senior Follies" last month in East County. With the theme "On the Road Again" the musical journey occupied a cast of San Diego seniors from 55 to 94. That's right a 94-year-young Mrs. Vesta Young vibrant piano player was part of this cast.
The production with more than 50 song-and-dance numbers honors every state in the union, from Ragtime to Big Band, from Swing to Barbershop. Thence, the audience enjoyed geographically themed numbers such as “Kalamazoo,” “Pennsylvania Poker,” “Old Cape Cod,” “Bluest Skies in Seattle,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “Chicago Is My Kind of Town,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “California Girls” and “Moon Over Miami.”
While the performances are impeccable, the lack of racial diversity from the cast made the show look like one sided. Too many blonds, too many white folks, as if blacks, Hispanics and Asians -for instance, didn't exist in America up until "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Viva las Vegas" times. A little disappointing was, also, the script, where the presenters played the smart man and the 'dumb' blond. For every question the guy asked (facts about America)the woman didn't know the answer. Then in two of the numbers there was what looked like a midget, and wasn't very clear what was the purpose of the production to excessively 'shorten' the only guy that could pass by Mexican and was the only one speaking a little bit of Spanish. For some reason the plot only shows white Americans enjoying their tourist lives across the country, and there is a sense of melancholy in it. As if the make up of this country was better off leaving out the real melting pot that America has been, it is and will be. Thumbs up for the scenography, the costumes and the lighting, though.
