11. I am Alive & Kickin

I'm so glad you're here . ( music out) Hey , you'd think I'd talk about something patriotic this week , but I'm not feeling very patriotic and I haven't for quite a while , so I'm not going to other than to say this Happy 4th of July . I hope you are enjoying your day and that you are being safe .

Wear your sunscreen and If there's a storm , be smart , you know , don't make dumb choices , but have a really wonderful day today . Okay , so today I'm going to talk to you about Alive and Kickin , which I will now call A and K , because it's just oh so difficult to say Alive and Kickin over and over again .

This organization has made a huge impact on my life and it allows me to heal and grow over and over again . A little backstory I had a dear friend and mentor . His name was Michael Matthew Farrell . He actually passed just over two years ago , which is something I will never recover from .

Other than my parents and my husband , Paul , I would say Michael has had the most influence over my life . I met him in 1998 when I was in a musical in college . He was the choreographer And if you know him you'll probably understand what I mean when I say . I just kind of fell in love with him right away .

He was teaching us a dance class and it was hard . It was really hard And he and you know I've been dancing for 17 years at that point . So it was a very difficult class and we had all varying levels of dancers in that class and he pushed every single one of us to do the very , very best that we could And he was .

He made it hard , he had high expectations , but he also was so loving in the way that he taught . Everything was done with kindness and empowerment and humor And I actually modeled my own teaching style after him And after I graduated from college he cast me in a bunch of shows .

I don't think that I would have had a musical theater career here in the Twin Cities if it wasn't for Michael And I also did a bunch of choreography assisting for him . So there was a long period of time in my 20s when I was with him all of the time . We were choreographing together or workshopping something together , or he was the choreographer for me .

We were just together all the time . And then at some point life happens and I went on to do some other things and so did he , but we always remained really close . So one day he says to me he says hey , monster , he called me monster . That's a whole other story that I could tell you some other time .

But he said hey , monster , I'm going to start this rock and roll ensemble for senior citizens . I just thought , great , he was so creative and he was so brilliant That really any bit of entertainment that he touched turned to gold . So I've always supported him in those types of choices .

He had just watched this documentary called Young at Heart And I went to go watch it the other day , but it's $13 to watch And I'm too cheap to watch it . But the documentary is about a choir in the Eastern states I think , maybe Massachusetts , i think it's still going on too . The choir is called Young at Heart and they sing rock and roll music .

And Michael saw this and thought gosh , we could absolutely do this here in the Twin Cities And I can lead it up . And so he did it . He starts this organization And Paul and I went to go see them at a church one day and they were excellent .

They do a lot of community concerts then , and now They do churches or senior living facilities or outdoor amphitheaters or things like that , and then they also do this big show at the end of their season , usually in June . So we first saw them at this community concert and they were wonderful . They were wonderful .

And we tell Michael at the end oh my gosh , michael , this is so fantastic . He says , well , that's nothing , you have to come to our big show . And Paul and I were engaged , we were getting married that September , and so Michael and his partner , jeffrey , gifted us two VIP tickets to see Alive and Kikken's big show in June .

And , oh my gosh , it was one of the best things that I've ever seen , and I am not joking . I see a lot of theater , i see a lot of concerts And this is one of the best things I had ever seen . I was a mess during it . I was a mess because they're just so good , like they're not just a bunch of cute older people .

They are cute older people , but they're good And in their big show what they do is each member has a voiceover . They've been given a prompt to go with whatever that year's theme is And then they have a voiceover .

It's their own voice And they just stand there in the spotlight while their own voiceover is playing And it tells some type of story or anecdote that ties in with that year's theme , and it's so powerful . Some of the voiceovers are funny , some are really sad , some are incredibly profound , but all of them are excellent because it's in this own person's voice .

So I was a happy , disgusting mess during that show . This was what did I say ? 2012 , right before we got married , and that's when I sort of became a super fan . There was one member in particular . His name was Bill Souden .

He has since passed , but he was just magic on stage And I don't really know how to explain it , because all he was doing was being himself . He was just being himself And he was so happy to be there .

He had an oxygen tank with him , and one of my very favorite things about Alive and Kickin is that they're older people And so some of them have limited mobility . Some of them have oxygen tanks , and in theater we try to cover up who the actor really is . We want them to portray someone else , but in Alive and Kickin they don't do that .

So if you have a problem getting to the microphone because you're a little bit slow , great , no problem , take your time , take as much time as you need . If you need an oxygen tank to help you breathe , great , wear it . And as an audience member , that has quite an impact on me , because everyone deserves to have a voice , everyone deserves to be on stage .

If that's what they want to do And if it takes them longer to get to center stage , then so be it . Like , let's not cover that up . That's human , that's part of the human experience And I just love that about Alive and Kickin . Anyway , bill Souden had an oxygen tank And I just loved him .

He was so genuine and so happy to be there , and who cares if he needed extra oxygen to breathe ? Take it , dude . Like , take your oxygen , let us see what your life is like .

And there was an after party that night and I remember sitting down and talking to him and just sort of fangirling over him and just being like you're a remarkable person and all of these people are remarkable people And this is an age group that is sorely misrepresented in entertainment , and at that moment I just thought I really have to be a part of this

somehow . So this is 11 years ago and I'm thinking I have to be a part of this organization somehow and I don't know how I'm going to fit in , but I just really want this And yeah , so stick a pin in that we'll come back to it . So at that time there was maybe 15 people in the middle of the group .

It was pretty small And it was something that Michael was just doing because he loved it . All of the staff were volunteers at that point . The cast was volunteering and they still are . They volunteer four and a half hours a week for about nine to 10 months , depending on how long the season is . So they're doing .

I mean , i'm not great at the math , i'm not even gonna try , but that is quite a bit of volunteer hours . It's at least 100 hours per person , and now the group is close to 40 . A&k is now a nonprofit . It's a 501C3 , it has a huge following here in the Twin Cities . Paul , my husband , has been their main drummer for many , many , many years .

This past year he wasn't able to do their big show but he has been their drummer for a long time . I've been showing up to their Sing Out program , which is a monthly program where anyone who wants to can just show up and do a sing along . It's fantastic . So I would show up to that . I would sort of sneak in at rehearsals .

I just kept showing up because this entire organization just makes me feel great about being alive and about being a human . So people ask me a lot what is A&K ? And it's so hard for me to describe It's . I say it's a rock and roll ensemble made up of seniors , which it is . But it's so much more than that .

You really have to experience it to understand what it is . And once you go , once you're hooked , you keep coming back . It's just incredible .

The members are 60 years old on up . The oldest member right now is , i think , 88 . The cast members are happy to be there . Mostly . You know they're human , so sometimes you know they're not happy to be there , but they're just filled with joy and love and grace and happiness . It's so fun to be around them .

Some of them are quite sick , i would say a handful of them are battling cancer . Some of them are in remission , some of them are taking chemo right now , some have some mobility issues , we have a few people that have walkers , some are having some memory issues and that's okay . Everyone is welcome in the group . So I don't really know .

I mean , i touched on this before but I don't know exactly how to explain it . But I've just known in my heart that I was meant to be a part of the organization , either when I'm 60 , i'll audition and hopefully be cast or I'm supposed to be involved in some other ways .

I have literally prayed for an opportunity to be able to work with this organization , not just good energy , good vibes . I've been dear God .

I would love an opportunity to work for this organization , and last year an opportunity opened up for me , and the same opportunity opened up for me this year , where I became the Artistic Associate to help them put on their big show in June .

So what that means is that about six or seven weeks out sometime in April , i show up and I help the other staff members get the show going , get the show on its feet , get the show ready and polished for an audience , which means I sometimes add some movement .

I help the cast members figure out which microphone to go to and when to sit down and how to stand up . And it has been such a joy for me to be in the room Last year . I had sort of an exit interview with the music director at that time and he knew he knew I wanted in . He knew I wanted to be in the organization .

I haven't been quiet about that And he just said you know , there's just not an opportunity right now , there's nothing in the budget right now , but hopefully something is going to become available . And when I prayed for this opportunity , i should have been a little more specific , because Michael's not there any longer And I wanted to work with the entire staff .

As it was , they had the same people in place for several years and those are the people that I wanted to work with . But that's not exactly how it turned out to be . So I actually do work for Alive and Kick It . Now , which is just a dream come true , i'm tearing up a little bit . Surprise , surprise , right , i'm always tearing up .

One of the staff members ended up leaving at the end of this season and I have replaced her . Well , i can't say that I've replaced her She's irreplaceable but I have her job now and I'm making it my own and I'm just so gosh . I'm so honored to be there . I'm so honored to work with these people .

It is a mostly it's a part-time job , but it's a lot of hours , so it's almost full-time . I am the new company manager and operations manager , which basically means I'm in charge of a lot of communication , which is okay by me because I have great communication skills and I think that I'm going to do a good job . But mostly I'm just honored to be there .

This job allows me to honor Michael and to keep his legacy alive . It allows me to simultaneously grieve his passing but also heal his passing . And when I'm with this group , i have such a healthy perspective on life because this group of people has seen it all . They have lived through so much and they know what is important .

They know that the most important things are love and friendship and family , chosen or biological . They know that health is so important . They know that kindness is important And to be able to walk amongst them is such an honor . It's always been an honor , but now to be in their lives and have them be in my life is it's I don't know .

I don't know how to explain it other than gratitude , thankfulness . You know I understand how fortunate I am to work with them and to be with them on a weekly basis , so I am so glad that I prayed for this opportunity . I'm so glad that the universe and Michael were listening , because I believe that Michael helped facilitate this hiring as well .

I believe that my mom had something to do with it too . I just believe that the universe was working in my favor and I'm just so happy to have this job And I beg of you to come see them . I beg of you to come see them Any community concert that you're able to , and if you're able to come to the big , huge show in June , please come to that .

You will be blown away by the talents and the compassion of this group and this organization . I will be sure to link their website and their YouTube channel and their socials in this show description so that you can keep up with them and follow them and know where they're going to be . I'm just so proud of this group and so proud to be a part of it .

So if you are a part of the A&K fam , i just love your guts and I love your shenanigans .

I had several people buy me a coffee this week , thank you , thank you . Thank you to Hillary Vermillion and Jeff Nordquist and Leslie Brown and Eric Paulson for buying me coffee . Eric Paulson is one of the A&K members . He's just a super great , great guy . So thank you to all of you for buying me a coffee this week . I really appreciate it .

If you'd like to buy me a coffee , i will put the link in the show description . I will also put links to my book and to my website . My website just had a bit of an overhaul , so I'd love for you to check it out . Yeah , as always , thank you so much for listening . I really appreciate it , and thank you for healing and growing with me today .

Mwah , this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal , health or professional advice . I am not responsible for any losses , damages or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast . This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice .