Being old is in the news, particularly in our political season where two likely candidates are squaring off for their respective party nominations... and both are already older than any other American president in history. It is politics, of course, but also a nasty dose of ageism combined with U.S. voters and pundits more interested in live performance than wisdom or leading an effective team.
Jimmy Kimmel has a bit where we watch President Biden carefully descend steps from Air Force One where Kimmel pretends to hold his breath and agonize over whether Joe will make it to the tarmac. We all laugh, even while feeling a bit guilty. It was only three years ago when we all laughed at video of Trump shuffling carefully down a ramp at West Point after delivering a speech.
Can we accept that neither man is at his best at this point?
The media is, as usual, not covering itself in glory by focusing on the latest Biden memory slip ups and his somewhat quiet delivery. Trump apparently gets a pass no matter what outlandish thing he comes up with, maybe due to him being able to declaim loudly. Let's face it, both men deserve criticism and neither SHOULD be running for president, but we are not a logical nation.
A large portion of the country seems to prefer loud and stupid (perhaps treasonous) to quiet and considered. Bottom line: we are a nation of morons, by and large, led by the shameless and cynical, obsessed with the show and with the constant need to be entertained.
Honestly, we don't deserve nice things.
In my own old age news, I am about to launch into show week for "Beauty & the Beast" which opens next Thursday night. I play Maurice, Belle's slightly odd inventor father, so my white hair and wrinkled skin are perfect. I don't know if I ever was a whiz at memorization, but this show has been a challenge. It's not the volume of lines, but there are cues and timing... and I have only recently felt even marginally comfortable with those lines. Five rehearsals in the next five days may do the trick.
In a month, St. Luke's is bringing back a pair of Holy Week services that involve selected songs from "Jesus Christ, Superstar," which I memorized back in the early 1970s, and still can conjure up with no preparation. I played the part of Judas, my favorite character from that rock opera, in November of 2004, when I was 54 and already the oldest and whitest Judas ever.
I wrote some narration for weaving the history and meaning of the musical into Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services in 2019, and assumed that would be it. Judas is very angry and very loud and sings very high... and there is some point when we just can't hit the "old notes." I did OK, but...
During the last week of March (Easter is March 31), I will be attempting to rock it at 73.8 years of age. My hope is that my voice is already sort of wrecked, so what damage can really be done? And I also hope that I have enough energy to sing the songs one time (not like a multi-performance run of a musical).
BTW, my partner over the past nearly 20 years is Patrick, who turned 65 today. He plays Jesus and must summon even higher screams than Judas does... and needs to be lots more sympathetic.
Just to pull it all together, he is playing the Beast in next week's show.
Neither of us is as old as Biden or Trump, but I guess we aren't letting that stop us. Will we be as good as we were 20 years ago? Who knows? Perhaps the congregation will simply gaze in wonder ass two senior citizens attempt to sing those challenging songs.
It's possible it will all go sour, as Judas sings in "Heaven on Their Minds," but I give us a decent chance of pulling it off.
That requires a tiny amount of faith, and so does voting for Joe Biden, despite his increasingly frail physical condition.
I choose a guy who makes sense and who seems to genuinely care for people and for the country over a guy who only cares about himself and who has lost the ability to make cogent sentences.
Yay, old people.
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