By Jack Cumming
Sometimes life catches you completely by surprise. Monday at the LeadingAge conference in Nashville was one of those times for me. The surprise was a resident-written, resident-produced, and resident-performed musical. The title Movin’ has multiple connotations ranging from moving out and moving in to moving on. The result is very moving, and I mean emotionally moving. This musical is a spirited rendition of life in a CCRC.
Carolina Meadows
The production is an undertaking of residents at Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill, NC. It was featured as part of the residents’ luncheon in Nashville with follow-up in an educational session. Not only did Carolina Meadows stage the presentation, but they hosted a reception with beverages afterward. The enthusiasm was contagious.
This rollicking, happy/sad production is a far cry from the hardcore business mind that I generally bring to readers. I’ve long known Carolina Meadows for several unique attributes that distinguish it from other CCRCs nationwide. To begin, Carolina Meadows offers a unique contract with asset appreciation shared with residents. That already distinguishes it from most other not-for-profit CCRCs. Its management is strongly appreciative of residents.
A Unique CCRC
Carolina Meadows was also the retirement home for Harry Groves, a retired law professor, who successfully lobbied the North Carolina legislature to give North Carolina one of the best resident protective regulations in the nation. As an attorney, Harry relied more on disclosure than direct financial oversight, and some of the disclosures required in the state can be daunting both to prepare and to read.
My best guess would be that it is this resident-centered empowerment culture and the community’s rich history that enabled the rich creativity of the musical production. Of course, people like dapper, bow-tied Hugh Tilson, a retired epidemiologist, and Phil Sloane, a geriatrician, made it possible. Then, there’s the modest Scott Schillin, who long managed the Boston Pops, and the ongoing support of the management and staff over the two years that it took to bring the project to fruition. It didn’t hurt that Phil Carl has made a study of Broadway musicals. Anything great, and this musical is great, takes a team effort.
Do It Yourself
Other communities across the nation may want to produce the show for themselves. The current libretto, lyrics, and music are trade protected, but Hugh Tilson assured me that they would be delighted if other CCRCs did something similar. There are roughly 500 independent living residents at Carolina Meadows.
The songsters were chosen from an existing choir to try to avoid hurt feelings for auditioners whose talent might not be what they might have thought it to be. It was evident that putting the show together, which lasts just under an hour, was a lot of fun and a huge success.
Musical Production
That’s enough background about this exciting resident project. The musical speaks for itself, and I don’t want to keep you from the experience. Click here to go a Vimeo link for a video of the production. The password is “Movin,” and that’s important to have at hand. To add poignancy, we’ll add that at least one of the performers is no longer among us. We won’t tell you who, though, so you’ll just have to experience for yourself the bittersweet, but sustaining, experience that life in a CCRC can be.
