Performing Arts Program at The Hacienda at the Canyon

New Performing Arts Program at The Hacienda at the Canyon Lightens the Mood of the Close-Knit Community With:

“The Sound of Music…Abridged” Parody Performances, October 7th and 8th

Watermark Retirement Communities Élan Collection location in the Tucson Foothills provides an outlet for sharing talent while celebrating a sense of community.
• “Sound of Music” parody launches new Summer Stock program that focuses on performing arts.
• The first performance in the “Summer Stock” program heralds a lighter mood and return to community group activities.
• To celebrate the new program, The Hacienda at the Canyon residents have taken on as a community project the collection of funds for the Oct. 30 Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Missy Paschke-Wood loves the adage that you don’t sing to be happy, you’re happy when you sing. She and residents of Watermark Retirement Communities’ The Hacienda at the Canyon spread that joy this week with their funny version of “The Sound of Music.”

The 75-minute parody of the classic musical—called “The Sound of Music…Abridged!”—launched a new program that gives residents who have performing arts interests a chance to stretch their acting and singing chops.

After the challenges of living with COVID-19 restrictions on social activities, the performance has been a welcomed lighthearted moment to share throughout the community.

Concerns over the delta variant slowed rehearsals and jeopardized the production, but eventually the show went on exclusively for community residents. It opened on Oct. 7 and has a final performance today, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m.

Paschke-Wood, The Hacienda’s community resource director, adapted the musical to be shorter and funnier while keeping the familiar favorite songs, from the title song and “So Long, Farewell” to “My Favorite Things” and “Something Good.”

She had a little fun turning the song about teenage innocence into “60 Going on 70.” Sheldon Clare as Captain Von Trapp offered a poignant rendition of “Edelweiss,” accompanied by John Driskill (Kurt) playing the ukulele. The audience boisterously belted out “Do Re Mi” and “Climb Every Mountain” with the cast.

Jokes about elder life in the community, including golf simulators, mobility devices, Zumba classes and older women “cougars,” got a lot of knowing laughs from the audience.

Maria refers to the Alps as the Santa Catalinas at one point and the Baroness, acting as narrator, talks of the Von Trapp family escaping to Oro Valley.

“It’s silly,” says Paschke-Wood. “It’s certainly not serious.”

The new program, Summer Stock, actually has a serious purpose: To engage residents with talent or desire to put on a show to improve their own health and as a touchpoint to close-knit community.

“We have a really robust visual art-making program at the Hacienda at the Canyon,” says Paschke-Wood, a fine arts graduate in theater. “For many activities, seniors are more comfortable trying visual art for the first time.”

She wanted a similar opportunity in performing arts and hit upon a way to encourage residents to try out theater. The musical would be a reading, so no one had to memorize lines. Most people already knew the tunes and words to “The Sound of Music,” making it easier to learn and practice.

While The Hacienda at the Canyon has hired musicians and singers to entertain residents, this program is the first to have residents perform for their neighbors. The young program became instantly popular because it’s another avenue for residents to get together.

“In otherwise isolating times, launching Summer Stock allowed us to make the most of the camaraderie and close sense of community that we enjoy here at The Hacienda at the Canyon,” says community Executive Director Shannon Ruedlinger.

The cast, including one Hacienda employee, range in age from the 60s to 93. They filled 15 roles, from Maria (Barb Levy) to the seven Von Trapp children and the abbey nuns.

Suzette Davis turned the role of Baroness Elsa from bored socialite to a jealous, catty foil for Maria. Ben Golden played Rolf, the budding Nazi, for laughs.

For Levy and Clare, the activity gave them a chance to regain that love of singing.

Levy, a former music teacher and music therapist, at first only reluctantly agreed to join the show. She hadn’t sung in years and needed to retrain her voice. “I realized when I was working to get my singing voice back, I really missed this,” she says. “It’s a very joyful thing.”

Clare, a voice major in high school, had been unable to sing with Tucson community choirs because of COVID-19 restrictions. Until Summer Stock came along this summer, he found it “very difficult to keep busy,” he says. Rehearsals and performances “made me much more optimistic” about the future, he adds.

Watermark Retirement Communities embraces studies that show the healing power of music, including improving motor skills and cognition, reducing depression and easing pain. That’s a crucial reason why it adopted Summer Stock.

The first performance showed how much the community was ready to get past the muted mood of the past year+. Overheard was this comment from the audience: “This is so dang fun!”

Davis, who acted in her youth and put together plays with her young children, loved working on the show, which had that community theater charm. “It was a great camaraderie among the cast,” she says. “We thought this was a way of having fun and being silly.”

Paschke-Wood saw it, too, among both cast and audience. “It’s really lightened people and gives them something to look forward to,” she observes.

To celebrate the new program, The Hacienda at the Canyon residents have taken on as a community project the collection of funds for the Oct. 30 Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

About Watermark Retirement Communities

For over three decades, Watermark has created extraordinary communities where people thrive with aging as renewal rather than retirement. Watermark communities are known for highly trained and caring associates, a lifestyle built on choice and innovative programs including the award-winning Watermark University featuring a wide variety of engaging classes for residents and area seniors. Watermark has been named in the top 25 Best Workplaces for Aging Services in a national program conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute and published on Fortune.com and is the first nationwide senior living company to be certified SAGECare platinum. Watermark’s industry-leading Stay Safe. Be Well. program incorporates innovative technology and extensive mitigation protocols with well-being community life programs. Learn more at Stay Safe. Be Well. A privately held company with a reputation for service, innovation, integrity and financial stability, Watermark manages more than 60 retirement communities coast to coast. Based in Tucson AZ, Watermark is ranked as the nation’s 11th-leading senior housing operator by the American Seniors Housing Association. Visit watermarkcommunities.com for more information.