Silver troupe glitters on stage

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff reporter

Five elderly actors and actresses on stage wearing shiny orange jackets sang and danced in line. Though some missed the beat, their faces were full of smiles of satisfaction and pride. “I am at my happiest moment when I sing and dance,” they sang in a touching harmony.

This was a part of the musical “Long Long Stream,” an original piece of the Jung-gu Silver Musical Company, at Jung-gu Youth Center in central Seoul, last week.

The “silver troupe” first performed the musical last November and started touring local senior centers to perform to larger numbers of audiences. They practiced two and a half hours a day for months to put the musical on stage.

Kim Suk-hie, leader of the troupe, said this is the first musical theater composed of senior citizens aged from 66 to 80. "We aim to give self-confidence to ordinary people that they can do anything," she said.

She added that they focused on music since it is a musical, rather than just a play.

"Their singing has improved a lot. We will tour more places to spread the hope and confidence of the 'silver' troupe," Kim said.

The “Long Long Stream” is a story of five aged actors who have to go through auditions again as their theater company’s contract expired. The actors show off their talents in front of the new director to survive in the troupe.

Lee Yoon-young, 79, is a former police officer who now works as a musical actor. With a writer son and an artist daughter, his family is full of artistic talent. He himself also liked acting since a young age, but withheld the dream due to earning a livelihood and supporting his family.

“It was hard for me to go up and down stairs before, but my body feels much stronger after taking part in the musical,” Lee said.

The most difficult thing in rehearsing for Lee was memorizing the lines and lyrics. “I compare the lines with the circumstances in my own way so they come to me at the right time,” he said.

Most of the audience members were elderly citizens like the actors. When the actors read the lines such as “I have a poor memory. Once, I put a cup in the washing machine after spilling coffee onto my dress,” or “I put my chamber pot into the refrigerator,” sympathetic laughter bursts out from the auditorium. One of the actors played an old Korean pop song with a harmonica and several audiences hummed the song.

Kim Jae-chun, 69, who came to see the performance, said it was very entertaining. “Though I’m not good at acting, it is so nice to see elderly people of my age singing and dancing on stage,” he said.