“The first 50 years are for learning; the second 50 are for LIVING!” That’s the motto of a show in Harlem with a cast of singers ages 55 and up
The following script is from “Alive and Kickin'” which aired on January 4, 2015, and was rebroadcast on July 12, 2015. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Shari Finkelstein, producer.
A show opened in New York recently that didn’t get a whole lot of attention, but it features some of the most powerful singing voices you’ve never heard. You haven’t heard them because for most of the performers, this is their first time on the stage. They’ve been singing their whole lives — in church, in amateur groups, in the shower — but like so many who had dreams of making it big, life somehow got in the way.
As we first reported in January, the show was created by a theater producer and former disc jockey named Vy Higginsen, who has made it her mission to preserve a special part of American culture: African-American music, both gospel and popular music like soul and R&B. She found a pool of untapped talent, men and women in what she calls their “second half of life,” just waiting for their chance to shine.
Learn more about Vy Higginsen’s mission at the Mama Foundation for the Arts
The show is called “Alive: 55+ and Kickin’,” and while that certainly fits the men and women who fill this Harlem stage on Saturday afternoons, “Alive” also refers to the music, and that is just how Vy Higginsen wants it.
Vy Higginsen: The older people carry the music in their body, in their mind. If they die, then that sound may be gone forever.
Her idea was not just to celebrate the music. She also wanted to produce a show about the life experiences and struggles that created it. She figured she’d start by finding the voices — then write stories for each character afterward. At least that was the plan over a year ago when she put out the call for auditions.
Vy Higginsen: We talked about it on the radio, auditions for 55 plus and they said, “This is a youth-oriented society. Nobody wants to hear about us.” I want to hear about you!
“The older people carry the music in their body, in their mind. If they die, then that sound may be gone forever.”
Theo Harris, 65, was one of more than 200 people who showed up to audition. He had caught one of the radio announcements on his way home from work.
Theo Harris: I pulled the car over to the side of the street. I said, “This is what I’ve been waiting for.”
. . . . . . . . . .
Debbie Bingham, 56, always wanted to sing, but she needed a steady job to raise her family, so she became a nurse.
. . . . . . . . . .
Renee Walker, also 56, works for her local school district.
Renee Walker: When I started working there, I told myself it would just be a temporary job until I made it as a singer. So I’ve been there 31 temporary years.
In some cases the talent was obvious. In others, like a 75-year-old named Matthew Brown, a little less so…
Vy Higginsen: Oh, Matthew Brown. When he walked through the door, he came in. He was bent over, looking down, and I was thinking to myself, what’s gonna happen here?
Lesley Stahl: He– he’s not right for this show.
Vy Higginsen: Well, I don’t know. I mean, look at- woo.
Lesley Stahl: She looked at you and said, “Unh-uh.”
Matthew Brown: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Lesley Stahl: She told you that?
Matthew Brown: She told me that.
Vy Higginsen: He took the mic. He pulled his shoulders back. He started to sing. And I fell out in my chair. Ahhh!
Matthew Brown: [sings] …shall always be my song of praise.
Vy Higginsen: My God! That’s what I’m looking for.
Matthew Brown: And I looked at her. And she straightened up.
Vy Higginsen: Who sings like that today? You can’t turn on the radio and hear that. But I heard that when I was a young girl.
He sounded to her like Nat King Cole.
Lesley Stahl: Did you know you had– that you got it?
Matthew Brown: I– I– I told myself, “You got it.” But I won’t– I– I won’t say anything. [SMILE]
Vy heard a different sound in Theo Harris’ voice.
Vy Higginsen: I put him a little bit in the crooner doo-wop section–
Lesley Stahl: The doo-wop.
Vy Higginsen: The doo-wop time.
Vy’s plan had been to create a story for each singer that would match their individual sound. That was before she knew what kind of stories were right in front of her. Theo Harris revealed at his audition that he had spent time in prison. When he said how much time, he wasn’t sure anyone heard him correctly.
Theo Harris: Greg Kelly who was the pianist said, “Wait a minute, how many years did you say?” And I said, “40.”
. . . . . . . . .
Theo Harris: And that’s when Vy heard it.
Vy Higgensen: Forty years in prison?
Theo Harris: In and out.
Harris told her he had committed burglaries, many in her neighborhood, Harlem, to get money to feed a drug habit. Vy told us she was conflicted, but when she and her husband and collaborator, director Ken Wydro, made their choices and assembled a cast to start creating the show, Theo was sitting front and center.
Lesley Stahl: Why did you pick him, if he’s this person who destroyed your neighborhood?
Vy Higginsen: Because he’s part of it. He’s part of the big picture. I can’t ignore that. And perhaps it was necessary for him to have a second chance. Perhaps he deserved it, another chance.
And Theo Harris wasn’t the only one they had chosen with a dramatic story — and he wasn’t the only one who needed a second chance. Matthew Brown, born the fourth of 13 children in North Carolina, had spent most of his life illiterate.
Read the whole script/story here. Also watch the videos. Very moving story.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alive-and-kickin-60-minutes-harlem-music/
© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Lesley Stahl: One of America’s most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 1991.
Comment from Tom Cook, Sr., Dallas, TX: This is one of the greatest things I have ever seen on TV–and I am in my 70s and have watched a LOT of TV! I was touched, moved, entertained, uplifted, inspired and humbled at what I saw and experienced. This is an example and a confirmation for me of two things I have come to believe about this country. One is that the story of black people enduring, surviving and eventually thriving in this country is the most interesting and important thing ABOUT this country, and the contribution of black people to our history, culture and art is unmatched by any other group in this country. The second thing that I have come to believe is this will be a far better country when the black population is in the majority and can fully bestow their amazing qualities of warmth, depth, understanding, tolerance and humanity across this nation in an unfettered manner. (For the record, I am white.) I will not be around to see that, but I am heartened about the future of this country because of the growing presence of its black population. And thank you, CBS, for the magnificent presentation of this aspect of our black culture. My hat is off to you, permanently.