- A documentary on a chorus of senior citizens from Massachusetts who cover songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and other unexpected musicians.
- Documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, whose average age is 81, and many of whom must overcome health adversities to participate. Their music is unexpected, going against the stereotype of their age group, performing songs, for example, by James Brown, and Sonic Youth. Although they have toured Europe and sang for royalty, this account focuses on preparing new songs, not an easy endeavor, for a concert in their home town, which succeeds in spite of several real heart breaking events.—Fox Searchlight
- Young@Heart is a Northampton, Massachusetts based chorus, whose two dozen or so members' average age is eighty years old. They are directed by the relatively young fifty-three year old Bob Cilman. Bob started the chorus in 1982, when they performed primarily vaudeville songs. But when they performed Manfred Mann's "Do-Wah-Diddy" to great fanfare, they have since almost exclusively performed pop, rock, R&B and even alternative, heavy metal and punk songs. The musical tastes of the chorus members generally leans toward the classical, but they love the energy of the group and reception they get from performing these more modern songs. Film director Stephen Walker, who saw the chorus perform in London in 2005 when they were on a European tour, travels to Northampton to film the chorus for the seven week rehearsal period for their new 2006 show, which will ultimately be called "Alive and Well". Bob is introducing a new repertoire for this show. He generally knows what the group will and will not like at the beginning of the rehearsal period, but hopes all the songs will be favorites by the time they are perfected. Perfecting the songs and their resulting inclusion in the show are not a guarantee, as some of the individual songs do not progress well. For this concert, Bob is hoping that two former chorus members will return to do a duet, they who originally left the group due to health reasons. But as Stephen follows the chorus, including to a local prison where they will test their "Alive and Well" program, he learns that health is a built-in concern of the group due to their age. He also learns that singing, music and being part of this group can be a miraculous panacea to these health concerns. Ultimately, the group has a "the show must go on" mentality, even if the one not making it to the show is his or herself.—Huggo
- Over the last 25 years, there has existed a group of senior citizens living in Northampton, Massachusetts, who refuse to let age and ill health get them down. Young@Heart is a documentary based on the lives of the current singing group of 24 senior citizens, brought to the big screen by British filmmaker, Stephen Walker, who saw their performance in London. Young@Heart is not your ordinary singing chorus, because they sing rock, punk, disco, and the average age is 81 with the oldest being 92 year old Eileen Hall. The documentary follows the group over a six-week rigorous rehearsal schedule, plus practicing at home for an upcoming sold-out concert in their home town. The group has many songs in their repertoire, but Bob Cilman, the stern but sympathetic chorus director, has added several songs for the new concert. These are not easy for the group to learn such as "Yes We Can", "Schizophrenia" and "I Got You or (I Feel Good)". After several weeks of practice, the group is on their way to the local jail to give a performance, when they learn that one of their members passed away the night before. It is devastating for them, but they have learned that the show must go on. They all pull together and practice even harder to get ready for their evening performance. That night, their concert is a rousing success, and ends with a standing ovation. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)
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