By Tim Badgley
A trio of Damariscotta residents, two with backgrounds in dance and theater, find friendship and an opportunity for creative expression as members of the troupe Hearts Ever Young.
Valerie Gorrill joins in song with the women of Hearts Ever Young as her husband, Bob Gorrill (left), waits with the men of the chorus for their entrance during a rehearsal Wednesday, May 21. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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A rich store of experience in music, dance, humor, song and spoken word will be on show at the troupe’s fifth production, “H.E.Y. on the Air – A Parade of Hits from Early Radio and TV” at 2 p.m. daily from Friday, June 13 to Sunday, June 15 at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta.
A group of 35 independent adults age 65 to 100 came together in 2010 for their first production at the Waldo Theatre in Waldoboro. Now numbering 52 performers, the troupe embraces all the performing arts of the stage in their annual presentations.
“The three Carols,” as many in the group call Artistic Director Carol Teel, Choreographer Carol Cirigliano, and Producer Carol Schell, guide and encourage the performers in the preparation and presentation of their show.
Three longtime members of Hearts Ever Young are Bob and Valerie Gorrill and Carolyn Gray who all live in Damariscotta. Each brings to the stage their considerable talents for performing rooted in their expressive and creative endeavors stretching back to their early childhood memories.
“In my parents’ eyes I was born jumping around, dancing, and singing. I couldn’t keep still,” Carolyn said. Consistently plagued by report cards that noted she talked too much, Carolyn found outlets in music and dance.
While she did not think her dancing ability was nearly as graceful as her sister’s, Carolyn attended dance classes, usually ending up with the part of the boy. “I was the klutz of the family,” she said. Undaunted, she found greater enjoyment in singing, first in church choirs and later in the college chorus at Penn State, where she met her husband Joe Gray.
Carolyn completed her degree in home economics and became a dietitian for two years while Joe finished college on the GI Bill. As they moved and lived in different places in the U.S., she taught school before settling in West Virginia. “I ended up working in the food stamp program that was just then beginning,” she said. This led to working in children’s services handling adoptions and foster care as a social worker.
As Carolyn’s career developed, her interests and participation in community theater grew. “I’m a costumer. I love to do costumes,” she said. She enjoyed the backstage work with an occasional nonspeaking part on stage. Her involvement in the theater did not stay curtained for long, however.
Carolyn’s son had a music teacher while they lived in Pennsylvania who started a barbershop quartet. “I got interested in that. That’s my real love,” she said.
After moving to Maine, Carolyn joined Mainely Harmony, a barbershop choir in Augusta that she sang with for 15 years. She enjoyed traveling in a quartet to do singing Valentine’s each year, which would raise money for the chorus. “We’d bring a rose and usually sing two songs for each Valentine,” she said.
Carolyn was also in her own barbershop quartet, the Dreamweavers, for 10 years. “We used to sing for elder hostel groups and just had fun. They sang at birthday parties and receptions and never charged a fee. Once in awhile they would receive a donation, which helped fund the purchase of music for the group.
In 2007 the Grays moved from Jefferson to Damariscotta. She read about Hearts Ever Young in the newspaper and joined in 2011.
“I’ve always been interested in musicals. Everywhere I’ve lived I’ve tried to find a community theater,” Carolyn said. It was natural for her to join the troupe when she arrived in the Midcoast.
In Hearts Ever Young, in spite of her rough early attempts, Carolyn has been the go-to person for choreographer Cirigliano, according to producer Carol Schell.
“Having a chance to try something you’ve never done is wonderful,” Carolyn said. “Everyone is very accepting of what others want to do. You do the best you can, that’s the whole point of it.”
Valerie Gorrill agrees with Carolyn. “Some in the group haven’t ever performed before,” she said. As a recreational therapist for 25 years, Valerie knows a thing or two about motivating people to simply try. “I think there are people in this group that have always wanted to do something like this and never had the opportunity,” she said.
In what she calls her “first career” prior to being a therapist, Valerie sang and danced professionally. Trained at the Royal Academy of Ballet, she distinguished herself in the performance and teaching of classical ballet, ballroom and tap dancing.
“Always I really wanted to dance on the stage professionally,” Valerie said. She auditioned at the Palladium in London and toured with their summer season, including Brighton on the Sea. “This was my first grown-up production,” she said.
Valerie also won many other auditions, touring all over England and Scotland. She joined the Leslie Roberts Dancers for the Billy Cotton Band television show. “We had to learn two or three different dances each week,” she said.
In 1957 she traveled with the USO to Germany with Dickie Dawson, who was known in the U.S. as Richard Dawson, the host of the television game show “Family Feud.”
“It was there that I met Bob in the USO cafeteria,” Valerie said. Bob, a professional photographer, had several cameras around his neck. She found her opening and her future husband by asking him, “Are you a photographer?”
Bob was in Germany creating a series of photographs of musical artists from the U.S., taking pictures of Lionel Hampton, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, and Miss June Christie.
The Gorrills raised their two boys in Massachusetts where Valerie made time to be “involved in Boy Scouts, helping direct school and church plays and taught dance to children.”
Bob continued in his creative endeavors in photography and working for one of the oldest audio-visual firms in Boston. He also accepted a commission to create a photographic display for the lower lobby of Boston’s Museum of Science, which hung in place for 11 years.
While not steeped in stage performance as his wife or their friend Carolyn, Bob joined Hearts Ever Young with some persuasion.
“Valerie and Carol Teel began a campaign in order to convince me to join. Every time Carol came to pickup Valerie for rehearsal, she’d hop out of the car and ask me, ‘Are you going to come with us today?’ I finally acquiesced,” Bob said.
All three said they love being part of Hearts Ever Young. “It is a wonderful group to be part of. We’re so grateful,” Valerie said.
According to Carolyn, Hearts Ever Young rehearses and performs at a time of day that is convenient for those who can’t get out at night. “This is a wonderful outlet for people our age,” she said.
Producer Carol Schell said rehearsals are like going to a party. “The rehearsals are wonderful,” she said.
“You make friends in this group. I’ve met people I would have never met otherwise,” Carolyn said. “All of a sudden you’re dancing together.”
For the Hearts Ever Young 2 p.m. shows on June 13, 14 and 15, the Gorrills will be singing two duets together: “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “Put Your Arms Around Me.” Carolyn will be dancing up a storm to Alexander’s Ragtime Band and singing in a comedy sketch. There is a suggested donation of $10.
Schell, the producer, said “The more people in the group that we get to be active in whatever way we can, the better.”
