Keep Spreading the News

Bob’s Broadway Chorus wrapped another season of nostalgia-filled performances for Atlanta-area senior living communities with its Dec. 3 performance at The Jewish Home for an enthusiastic and engaged audience.

The group will begin rehearsing in January for its Spring season, running from mid-March through early June.

Program spokesperson Sandy Ferko explained how music therapy can be impactful for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Get The AJT Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

“We all have stories about the effect of music on the residents. I have watched couples reach for each other’s hand. Perhaps the most touching happened years ago at The Jewish Home. A young woman wheeled her mother in and told us her mom had not spoken for more than six months, a long time not to hear your mother’s voice. But during one song, her mother started singing. The daughter was crying and, when I looked in their direction and saw what was happening, I teared up and couldn’t sing.”

Ferko continued about her experiences with the chorus and the effect it can have on the audience.

“Science tells us that music activates a part of the brain … I’m not a doc, but over the 15-plus years I’ve been in the chorus, I’ve seen things like this so often. Elderly residents can’t find the right word, but they remember lyrics from years ago. And they join in on the songs they remember from years ago. Most of our music is Broadway related, but we also include some songs that they would remember from years ago from singers like Andy Williams or The Fifth Dimension, among others.”

Bob’s Broadway Chorus will return for its new season in mid-March.

Each of the chorus’ programs, including the sing-along portion where the residents are given the lyrics and asked to join, lasts about an hour. Highlights from this past season included:
• Medleys from “Singin’ In The Rain”
• Men singing “Nothing Like a Dame”
• “Impossible Dream”
• “Somewhere” and “Officer Krupke” from “West Side Story”

“A highlight occurs during ‘Singing In The Rain’ when Lee Katz dons a blue cap and opens a big blue umbrella and does his perfect imitation of Gene Kelly, dancing in the aisles, charming the residents,” Ferko said.

Ferko explained that all of the group members are volunteers who live across the North Atlanta area. The Broadway Chorus was started by the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta around 20 years ago.

“But when George Fox staged ‘Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at the JCC and asked Bob Schultz to be the music director, the JCC learned Broadway was Bob’s hobby,” said Ferko. “He knew every show and all of its songs. So, Kim Goodfriend asked Bob to take over the chorus and many of the show’s cast members joined the group. We’ve enjoyed singing and getting to know each other for about 17 years. When Bob passed away almost six years ago, members decided to add his name to the title, hence ‘Bob’s Broadway Chorus.’”

Barry Levin is the chorus leader and Richard Siegel serves as the pianist. To book Bob’s Broadway Chorus at a senior living community or to audition for the chorus, please contact Ferko at sandyzferko@gmail.com.