Young folks

Meet Joseph Mitchell, Helen Boston and Liria Petrides. At 75, 78 and 83 years old respectively, members of a North Hampton seniors’ singing group called the Young @ Heart. The group’s claim to fame is that they sing rock and roll songs, including “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?,” “Fix You,” and “I Will Survive,” becoming something of a You- Tube sensation with their humorous music videos. They’ve played soldout concerts in Europe, and are now the subject of a documentary being released by Fox Searchlight. Keep in mind that nobody in the group particularly likes rock and roll. When asked about their favourite music, most of the members cite opera or Broadway musicals like My Fair Lady.

Young @ Heart documents two challenging, tragic, and eventually triumphant months in which the group rehearses for a new show under the leadership of their ever-patient chorus director Bob Cilman (age 53). Before I saw the film I was worried it would use its geriatric heroes as a freak show attraction (“Ha ha, these people are so old!”). Instead, director Stephen Walker broke down every wall of critical snobbery I had. This documentary is a real crowd-pleaser

When I met Mitchell, Boston and Petrides for an interview at the Four Seasons, the first thing Boston said was, “He’s so young!” I was taken aback by Liria Petrides response to whether having a documentary crew constantly filming them felt unnatural. Said Petrides, “We get so used to paparazzi in our face when we’re in Europe…we know how to act without looking at the camera.”

Much of the film follows the group’s attempts to memorize the words to difficult songs. The group is reluctant about the material, particularly Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia,” but gradually comes to a newfound appreciation.

“Most of the songs, my children sang them,” says Boston. “So when they hear us… (they ask)‘You’re gonna sing that, mom?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ ‘Cool!’ They’re helping me with the music.”

The film chronicles several painful moments for the group, including the deaths of two of its members. Faced with mixed feelings about being filmed, Young @ Heart soldiered on.

“I mean, they actually went into the hospital and the hospital bed” says Petrides before tapering off.

“Well, I think Bob wanted that,” says Boston.

Petrides pauses before responding, “Well, fine, I’m just saying, don’t let ‘em in if I’m there!”

The documentary’s subjects have high praise for Bob Cilman, the founder of the group, seen in the film as an exasperated but caring authority figure. “Bob’s a genius, that’s true,” says Petrides, “because the origins of this whole big thing, which is now considered such a success, was in Bob originally. A lot of people have helped along the way, but it was his idea to have a senior group that does this. Almost every town and city in the United States has a senior group doing something, but very few of them are invited to Europe to sing rock and roll.”

“Any time you can give seniors a song and teach ‘em how to sing…you gotta be special,” adds Mitchell. “He’s gonna teach us that song, and, y’know, you get a bunch of kinds and their minds are very alert. But when you get older…”

“…Alzheimer’s setting in…” says Boston.

Young @ Heart is a real charmer. It’s funny but not snide, moving but not manipulative. It has the potential to be a sleeper hit.

Young @ Heart opens April 18.