The All Stars Project's Senior Theater Workshop participants, with Director Vicky Wallace and Producer Dr. Susan Massad.

At the All Stars Project’s, Senior Theatre Workshop (STW) founded two years ago, members meet weekly with Director Vicky Wallace and Producer Dr. Susan Massad to learn and practice the skills of improvisation. Calling upon material from their lives, members create songs, skits, dances, and scenes, and—several times a year—put on public performances that showcase what they have learned.  Based on the ASP philosophy that everyone is a performer, and that it is through performance that we can grow and develop, the STW is dedicated to the development of older Americans.  STW challenges the prevailing assumptions that getting older is synonymous with decline.  In creating the ensemble, seniors are learning that they can play, create new things, hang with people they don’t “know,” discover new talents, and have a lot of fun doing it.  Retired teacher Burt Polayes learned that he had a lyricist within him.  Ruth Schwartz, retired school guidance teacher, says, “It makes you think, it keeps your mind going. And you know what? You get to play. I get to feel young again. It’s wonderful.”

The STW is free and open to anyone over fifty who wishes to participate.  Workshops are held on Tuesdays, 4:00-6:00 p.m., and the next workshop series will begin on September 9th.  This past year, members of STW performed at Penn South Senior Center, where they invited audience members to join them onstage and take part in improv games and exercises.  New outreach events are planned for the fall.

For more information contact the All Stars Project at 212-941-9400.