Robert Kuhn, 93, is no stranger to the stage. He played Bud Frump in “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” and two different father roles in “The Fantasticks,” along with many other appearances. But it’s been about 25 years since his last performance.
That will change this weekend, Feb. 27-28, when he plays Arvide Abernathy in “Guys and Dolls Sr.” at Shelton Auditorium with Summer Stock Stage’s Encore: Musical Theatre for Seniors program. His wife will join him onstage as a member of the mission band.
This show marks the first full musical for the Encore program, said musical director Mike Berg Raunick, who is also the executive director of Summer Stock Stage. It’s part of a series of musicals that have been rewritten for actors 55 and up.
Compared to the original show, “Guys and Dolls Sr.” has a shortened runtime and shorter songs. Keys have been altered to fit senior voices.
The cast of 34 seniors, who range 60 to 93, have been rehearsing weekly for two hours since September. But rehearsals aren’t the only time they see each other.
“This morning, I saw an email go around that was like, ‘Hey crapshooters, we’re going to meet at the library to go over our lines together,’” said Emily Ristine Holloway, the show’s director and the artistic director of Summer Stock Stage. “The Hot Box girls rent out a gym on Sunday afternoons.”
Peggy Powis, the 76 year old who plays Adelaide, has been involved with Encore since last year, when she saw an advertisement for the program at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. The last time she was onstage was in 1982 with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Festival. She was also a Hot Box girl in “Guys and Dolls” in high school.
“It has been an ambitious undertaking,” she said. “They encouraged all of us to audition, and they just said, ‘We wouldn’t cast you if we didn’t think you could do the part.’”
Powis also expressed how much she’s learned in the process.
“I didn’t even know I had a head voice until this year. (Raunick) kept saying to me, ‘Sing in your head voice, sing in your head voice.’ Well, where is it? So it’s been a learning curve for me, too,” she said.
Bob Zehr, 76, who plays Sky Masterson, was a theater producer and director for most of his life, but this is his first time acting. He found out about the program when his daughter sent him a link on Facebook.
“A lot of these people, their kids told them about it, and like, have twisted their arms,” Holloway said. “We have people who have grandchildren who are in (Summer Stock Stage’s) high school performances.”
The cast has formed such a strong community that one member, who had to drop out due to health reasons, still attends rehearsals just to see her friends.
“We wanted the end product to be excellent, but we wanted more for this to be about making connections and bringing joy to their lives,” Holloway said.
Powis spoke to the program’s sense of community as well.
“One of the ladies who’s not (performing) with us this year, she stayed in touch, and she said, ‘The moment I walked into the room, I knew exactly that you were my new family.’ I think when you get to be our age, you know if you’re sitting in a room where everybody’s vibes are the same.”
Holloway encourages people to come see the show to also to experience stories from another generation.
“The heart of theater is just storytelling,” Holloway said. “And who has the most and best stories? The people who have the most years. So when you see them up there, and they’re wiser and they’re older, it’s just really moving.”
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Emily Worrell is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach her at emily.worrell@mirrorindy.org.
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