Sing and dance to assisted living

The assisted living experience has been put to pen and paper—and song.

“Assisted Living: The Musical” captures life in a long-term care facility. The one-act show opens as a couple enter heaven with the suspicion their son pulled the plug to get Dad’s vintage Corvette.  Instead of getting mad, they reminisce about their life at Pelican Roost, an active retirement community “with artificial flowers and grab bars in the showers.”

Rick Compton and Betsy Bennett have written bawdy jokes and songs about saggy skin, Viagra, falling in love (literally) and lost dentures that satirize aging and confront ageism. But, there are no mentions of Depends.  

The two actors act out skits of 18 memorable residents, including Naomi Lipshitz-Yamamoto-Murphy who regularly upgrades her living arrangements as an unintended consequence of spousal mortality, a Stetson-ed lawyer who promises that legal compensation hides in every act of aging, a wellness center nurse who actively recruits organ donors and a 93-year-old Cadillac owner who gives drive-thru window new meaning.

“From early retirement right up to the pulling of the plug, 21st century seniors are partying like it’s 1969,” a synopsis reads. “Imagine: no work, no pregnancy and a full array of Medicare-subsidized pharmaceuticals.”

The show was developed in 2008 and has been performing in small runs across the country since 2013. Watch the promotional trailer: 

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.