Second act: Nonprofit pulls older folks into the performing arts. The results can be startling.
By Vincent T. Davis, Staff writer Sep 9, 2024
Last year, Rosemary Ybanez Livar brought the crowd to its feet when she closed the San AnTONY awards show at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
The annual event celebrates community support and talent in programs such as “Seniors in Play,” a nonprofit for older residents that the film and television actor Tony Plana founded in 2017. Livar, a member, helped Plana set up the program and performed that night under her stage name, “Roze,” delivering a rap song she wrote titled, “I ain’t never been old.”
“Open up your mind,” she rhymed to a startled audience. “There’s no crime in getting old.”
Livar described aches and isolation, the evolving color of hair, how change and growth has kept her young. She reveled in the here and now, not longing for days when she wore miniskirts or hot pants. Livar ended on an upbeat call for older folks to stand tall and be thankful to be alive. The crowd applauded her delivery of a musical style not often associated with someone her age.
“It’s important we accept who we are today and stop wishing for days gone by,” Livar, 68, said by phone. “And celebrate who we are now.”
On Sept. 17, Livar will be back in the glow of stage lights at the Tobin with fellow members of Seniors in Play. The awards show, from 6-9 p.m., will celebrate seniors, senior centers, teachers, volunteers and donors who make the program possible. Plana will host, introducing a special guest, actor and San Antonio native Jesse Borrego.
This year’s honorees are Erika Prosper, the First Lady of San Antonio, George Hernandez, former president/CEO of University Health System, and Bexar County Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez. Information is available from Denise Thieme, the nonprofit’s development director, at 210-201-3858 or by email at Dthieme@seniorsinplay.org.
Sponsors include Community First Health Plans, Frost Bank, the Alamo Colleges Foundation, H-E-B, UT Health San Antonio, University Health and Methodist Healthcare Ministries.
Seniors in Play has helped older residents find their second act. Members already have served their country, taught younger generations or toiled in a variety of jobs. They’ve had successful careers, raised families and contributed to society. Now, many are tapping into creativity long unused, dormant or never realized.
Plana and his team use the performing arts to help members develop their well-being, maintain cognitive health and focus on creativity in a social setting. Currently, free classes are offered at 13 senior centers in San Antonio. Plana uses improvisation and reflects on personal stories to create a safe space.
“Having them share their own experiences opens up that window to them,” Plana said. “That’s where the real connection happens, where they reap the rewards of coming into this newly formed family. I call this the ‘rewards of rigor’ because you’ve applied yourself to the discipline, to the process.”
For more than four decades, Plana’s career has put him in more than 200 films or television shows, including “Officer and a Gentleman,” “JFK” and “Ugly Betty.” Plana and his wife were invited to San Antonio to tour WellMed senior centers and see programs available to seniors. He felt something was missing and wanted to offer a creative outlet at the centers. He’d done the same thing in Los Angeles, working with youngsters, for 16 years.
“I remembered the transformative power this experience had with the children,” Plana said. “There was this whole collaborative creative experience of working with other kids and using their imagination to create something that didn’t exist before and sharing with others.”
Livar belongs to the Ambassador Group that’s been together since the program began. A cousin, who starred with Plana in “Three Amigos,” asked her to introduce the actor around San Antonio. A high point was working with the late Bill Gundry, a director Livar said “made everyone feel as they were his best friend.”
During the pandemic, the program was sustained with online Zoom classes. Livar's only regret is that a friend wasn’t able to join the program before she passed weeks ago.
“I don’t want to leave anyone in San Antonio behind,” she said. “Tony Plana is trying to close that gap. It’s important, we are important and I’m grateful he’s brought this to our city.”
Bob Hall shared his appreciation for the experience after a recent rehearsal for the awards show. A retired Navy veteran, he got involved with the program in 2019, when he saw a sign at the Bob Ross Senior Center while at a water aerobics class. Hall gave it a shot and loved it. He backs Plana’s dream to get seniors involved with reading, writing and being mobile.
Hall has played several stage roles, including a magical fairy — that was a stretch, he said — to one of several guys drinking beer on a riverbank. Outside of the group, his first performance was at the Overtime Theater, where he played a cowboy who was a ghost.
“It’s like a community,” Hall, 68, said. “It’s fun to get on stage and pretend to be somebody I’m not. I like the concept of getting older folks to stretch beyond their comfort zones. ... I like seeing older people say ‘I can do this.’”
Livar is ready to rhyme once again about being free and loving her age. This year, San AnTONY producers asked her for an encore of her rap performance. The program has taken her acting to another level, Livar said. She’s done a music video with her husband and was chosen for a small role in an independent film.
“Some people grow up and some grow old,” Livar said. “I know who I am. Seniors in Play helps me celebrate who I am.”
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/seniors-in-play-san-antonio-19742625.php