Young@Heart in "Old School" at the Academy of Music on Sunday November 24th at 3PM

Young@Heart in “Old School” at the Academy of Music Theatre Sunday November 24th at 3PM 

The Young@Heart (Y@H) will be back on the boards at the legendary Academy of Music Theatre in downtown Northampton on Sunday November 24th at 3PM. Joining us as Guest Theatrical Director for this show is former Blue Man Group performer and The New Yorker cartoonist Isaac Littlejohn Eddy. He joins us as part of our newest partnership with LightHouse Holyoke School, where Isaac is the Theater Director. “Old School” will be produced in collaboration with LightHouse’s De la Luz Technical Arts Institute. (Bios for Isaac and LightHouse are below.) 

"Old School" will feature performances by some of our beloved living legends – who are all over the age of 90 and who have all been a part of Y@H for at least a decade: Helen Boston (95), Gloria Parker (96), Steve Martin (96), Pat Booth (92), Norman Moreau (91), Anita Shumway (90), and the remarkable Dora Morrow (102). Along with our full chorus, they will sing songs by artists ranging from The Cramps to The Flaming Lips, The Velvet Underground, Mavis Staples, The Magnetic Fields, Beach House and Laurie Anderson – just to name a few. 

Young@Heart is coming off a couple of show-stopping performances at the Granfalloon Festival in Indiana and the Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA this summer. If you haven’t seen them recently, you are in for a real treat. 

Tickets are available at 

https://www.aomtheatre.com/event/youngheart-chorus-presents-old-school/ Or at the Academy of Music Theatre Box Office in Northampton from 3-6PM Tuesday -Friday. 

Bios: 

Young@Heart (Y@H) 

2024 marks the 42nd anniversary of Young@Heart, the world’s pre-eminent octogenarian rock ‘n’ roll ensemble. Started in 1982 as an informal sing-along at a Western Massachusetts meals site for the elderly, it has grown into a stereotype-defying, globetrotting musical extravaganza. From The New York Times to TIME, The Tonight Show to The Ellen Show and stars of the Fox Searchlight Top 100 all-time documentary “Young@Heart”, this diverse group of seniors, ranging in age from

74-102, has over 50 international tours under its belt. From Northampton to New Zealand, Europe to Japan and featured in E*Trade’s acclaimed Super Bowl ad “This Is Getting Old” (2018), Young@Heart continues to wow audiences worldwide. Since 2014, they have worked with incarcerated singers in two local prisons at regular rehearsals and concerts through their PrisonVision program. In their Mash-Up concerts, they collaborate with the best youth performance groups, including Staten Island’s PS22 Chorus, Chicago Children’s Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. During the pandemic, they pivoted to virtual rehearsals and produced 5 highly acclaimed full-length virtual concerts with appearances by Edie Falco, Steve Buscemi, David Byrne, Larry David, Lily Tomlin, Cybill Shepherd, and others. During this time, they also produced dozens of music videos and released “Miss You”, their fourth album to date, garnering features on CNN and CBS Sunday Morning. Back on stage in 2022, the chorus celebrated their 40th Anniversary with a live show and a concert film that received a New England Emmy in 2023. In November 2023 they created the show “Twist and Crawl” which featured a wide range of dancers including, salsa, hip hop, Irish step, tap, cumbia and 60’s go-go. Recently they have performed at Mass MoCA’s Solid Sound Festival, The Big E, the Granfalloon Kurt Vonnegut Festival in Bloomington Indiana and Green River Festival. They are now Artists in Residence at American International College in Springfield MA, and BOMBYX Center for Arts and Equity in Florence MA. 

Isaac 

Isaac Littlejohn Eddy (Guest Theatrical Director) performed as a Blue Man in Blue Man Group for twelve years. He developed the multi-disciplinary performing arts program at Vermont State University Johnson where he taught for nine years as an associate professor and mainstage director. Isaac has directed multiple plays and musicals including an original musical entitled Listen Up that was created by Vermont teenagers and toured the state in 2021. Isaac has had cartoons published in the New Yorker, The New York Times, and Time Magazine. He has taught improv and theatre making at the Governor's Institute of Vermont for fifteen years. His greatest source of artistic inspiration is creating new performance works with artists of all ages and watching them learn how to frame their experiences for the stage. New to the Pioneer Valley, Isaac just moved to Leverett this Fall with his wife, three kids, and many animals. Currently, Isaac is the Theatre Arts Director and Developer at the LightHouse Holyoke School. 

LightHouse Holyoke School 

LightHouse Holyoke is changing what school can be, now at their new campus in the former Gateway City Arts complex at 92 Race St. The one-size-fits-all model of traditional education does not work for all learners, but compelling alternatives are both rare and expensive. LightHouse offers a very different way to live and learn. Since opening in 2015 they have been disrupting traditional power structures in real time,

transforming the traditionally hierarchical relationship between young people and adults to one of collaboration, founded on voluntary, shared agreements. They are a competency-based, accredited private school working with public districts, individual families, and homeschoolers in grades 6-12. 

Contact: Bob Cilman (413-727-3470) or Julia van IJken (content@youngatheartchorus.com)