Too often we try to be all things to all people and end up not really appealing to any group of people.

By Steve Moran

Sacramento is the capital of California. It has been and likely always will be a bit of a cow town. You will still see lots of pick-up trucks, cowboy boots and cowboy hats. However, because it is the capital city, and just a bit more than an hour from San Francisco, you will see some sophistication — or at least attempts at sophistication.

One of those attempts that is truly very good is something called The Music Circus. Each year they do six musicals in the round. When I was a kid, the performances were under a real circus tent and the chairs were not much better than amped up lawn chairs. Some evenings it was great and others it was hot, hot, hot.  

A dozen or so years ago they replaced the tent with a real building that makes the experience much more pleasant and allows for more sophisticated staging. While I admit it is better . . . I confess to kind of missing the old tent and funky chairs.

The Same Plot But Completely Different

Last evening’s performance was Sister Act, the final show of the season. We watched the movie when it came out in 1992 and rewatched it last week as a primer for the stage version. It was great entertainment in 1992 and still great entertainment watching it last week.

We took our seats expecting the stage experience to be the same story, set it the same location, the same story-line and the same songs. Boy, were we surprised.  

The setting was different, the storyline — while following a similar plot — was very different and the music was entirely different.

Better or Worse

We liked them both a lot. It would be hard to say that one was better than the other, because both were excellent. It was a great reminder that in senior living the goal has to be . . . being great at what you do and doing whatever that is in your own way.

I am sure there were people who loved the staged musical much better than the movie, while others may have loved the movie and hated the stage play. Too often we try to be all things to all people and end up not really appealing to any group of people.   

In another article we talk about how the readers of NextAvenue, who are in their 50-80s, are interested in senior living but not necessarily traditional senior living. This is not bad. It is a challenge to invent and iterate to serve not all seniors who need care, but just one slice that will love your communities, your style of doing business, your “vibe”.