[April 23, 2008]

Vaudeville, bagpipes and all that jazz

(Seattle Times, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Apr. 23--"Follow the music," the secretary said to visitors, pointing down the hall. The joyous sound of a chorus echoed in the foyer.

Before the show even started, the audience of senior citizens was clapping and singing to the warm-up tune of an accordion.

The Northshore Variety Band was about to start.

"Well, there's no business like show business," said Master of Show Jim Walz as he introduced the first performance. About 15 singers took the stage, repeating his quote in song, Broadway style.

What followed was an hour and a half of living musical history. With an average age of about 80, the band members delighted the audience with favorites from the '40s and '50s, some recalling their own experience in musicals, professional bands and Hollywood nightclub entertainment.

The audience didn't wait for a singalong to join the show -- they even sang the lyrics during instrumental pieces.

"It's songs that they grew up with," said singer Rebecca Young.

The 70 to 80 audience members filled the Northshore Senior Center dining room. Cream-colored walls and a closed kitchen door served as the performers' backdrop, and tables were replaced with rows of chairs.

The show was vaudeville-style, a series of acts that ranged from a bagpiper to singalongs, all interspersed with humorous introductions and jokes of a fading generation.

Musicians included a French horn player, a guitarist who played country western, and two smiling women keeping the beat on drums and tambourine.

Ray Colby, dressed in knickers, a kilt and a feathered hat, played "Scotland the Brave" on bagpipes. Some of the performers have seen far bigger stages.

In the 1950s, Young traveled in Europe as part of an officer entertainment program with the military, performing operas and musicals. In the '80s, she acted with the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

With a songbird's voice and bright expressions, she launched into "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" as the opening solo last Tuesday.

Dancer Jean Heinzerling, whose act featured two wardrobe changes and castanets, was a Hollywood showgirl at Earl Carroll Theatre during WWII. She was a 19-year-old with "stars in her eyes," she said. She later taught ballroom dancing in the University District during the '40s and '50s.

When Gaylord Schaudies played "Mighty Like a Rose" on his clarinet, he was surprised that most of the audience was able to hum along to the late-1800s song.

In 1951 Schaudies played for the Dag Larsen Band East of Kent. Already in the Navy reserves, he became an active sailor in 1953 and traveled and performed throughout the Pacific.

The Northshore Variety Band started about 12 years ago as a kitchen band made up of members from the Northshore Senior Center. They soon discovered they had some skill, said Bill Ostheimer, a band leader.

"We eliminated all the noise makers and all that junk and replaced it with talent," he said.

They now put on shows in nursing homes and senior centers around the Northshore area.

"It's fun to perform for these groups, because I think it cheers them up," Young said.

The performers aren't in it for the money. Proceeds from the $3 tickets are donated to the Northshore Senior Center.

The group practices every Tuesday at the center.

"It's probably the best group of people I've been associated with," Walz said. "It's like one big happy family."

Celeste Flint: 206-464-3192 or cflint@seattletimes.com

Northshore Variety Band

Practices are open to the public and are held at the Northshore Senior Center, 10201 E. Riverside Dr., Bothell, in room 205 from 9-11:30 a.m. every Tuesday. For information, contact Jean Heinzerling at 360-668-4014 or Bill Ostheimer at 425-488-4377.

Upcoming shows:

May 6, 2 p.m., Brighton Court, 6520 196th St. S.W., Lynnwood

May 20, 2 p.m., Peter's Creek, 14431 Redmond Way, Redmond

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