Staying Young

How many times have we been told the way to stay young is to stay around young people. My week invovled attendance at two conferences which gave me occasion to buy several small stuffed animals for my god-daughter. What a joy to see stuffed animals and have someone to spoil with them. I need to be careful because god-daughter has lots of grandparents to do lots of spoiling too. Today I had a chance to go see a young people's community theater production of a new musical by Stephen Schwarz who is the author of Godspell. I was pleasantly surprised at the accomplishment of the group. The piano was inferior and had an ugly sound that drove me crazy (but we know I was always spoiled having only Steinways in practice rooms in my younger days - and now we know too that I have spoiled myself with a "Japanese Steinway" - a Yamaha that is considerably less expensive then their named cousins - after trading in my long-serving Baldwin spinet, I wondered how I ever played it!). Anyway, the show was quite convincing, none the less. It was so heartwarming to see such an array of young people so ardently employed in producing a show that was pleasantly entertaining. Oh, it is called Children of Eden. The director has some sort fo cancer and it is not known how long she will be able to continue. But, I thought how therapeutic it must be for her to be involved with young people as she battles a disease that will probably cause her demise. The show indeed had a hopeful message and the little theater troop utilized the talents of many young people. If you've listened to the Academy Awards, you've probably heard all sorts of actors waxing on the family involved in their films - the actors and the crew and all the auxilliary personnel. This local theater group indeed has formed a family! And how fortunate are those young people to find an activity worthy of their investment of time and energy. And I thought community theater was largely a thing of the past. What a potent reminder of the restorative power of connecting with young people!