milven
01-05-2015, 08:17 PM
Did anyone see 60 Minutes yesterday? They did a wonderful piece on people over 50 who a hard life, but loved music. Vi Higginson listened to the stories of these people and put together a show with them singing about their real stories. I remember Vi from years ago when she was a dee-jay at WBLS. But since then she has put together quite a few musical shows, many playing at the BEACON THEATER. If you have an extra twenty minutes, watch the two part video. It will make you feel good.
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.
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.
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.
PART 1
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alive-and-kickin/
PART 2
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alive-and-kickin/
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.
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.
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.
PART 1
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alive-and-kickin/
PART 2
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alive-and-kickin/