At first, Bob Cilman wasn't sure he and the Young @ Heart Chorus were ready for their big-screen close-up.

As chorus director for the suddenly hot singing group, Cilman said he was worried that any filmmakers would "exploit" the chorus members, or that they would treat them "as some sort of novelty act."

After all, Young @ Heart is made up of a dozen-plus senior citizens (most of them range from ages 70 to 90), and among the songs they sing in concert are unlikely hits by R&B, punk-rock and Brit-pop acts.

"I just wasn't convinced in the merits of a movie," he recalled. "We'd been perfectly doing fine on our own for years and didn't really need someone coming along and messing all that up."

However, Cilman and the group reconsidered when filmmaker Stephen Walker approached them. Walker, an English television producer and journalist, originally envisioned a short piece on the group, but as he got to know them, the project eventually turned into a feature-length documentary.

Titled simply "Young @ Heart," the film follows Cilman and the chorus as they prepare for a series of 2005 concerts, one of them in their hometown of Northampton, Mass. Among the songs they're practicing for these concerts are numbers made popular by James Brown ("I Feel Good"), Allen Toussaint ("Yes We Can Can"), Coldplay ("Fix You") and Sonic Youth ("Schizophrenia").

Cilman insists the movie song set is not a "typical" one for the group, even though the documentary also shows performances of the Clash, the Ramones, David Bowie and Talking Heads hits.

"We've done show tunes, golden oldies and the classics as well — anything that's interesting and that the chorus decides it wants to sing," he said from Northampton, where he was helping promote the new movie.

Cilman added that the song selection process is also a lot more "democratic" than the movie. "There's not a lot (the chorus) will let me get away with."

Still, he admitted that practices and shows don't always go smoothly. The movie even looks at the health issues of various chorus members, including Fred Knittle and Bob Salvini, both of whom had to leave Young @ Heart because of the wear-and-tear on their bodies.

(Cilman is even shown in the film trying to coax the baritone Knittle and the sweeter-voiced Salvini out of retirement so they can duet on Coldplay's "Fix You.")

"Practicing songs is a lot more demanding, physically and emotionally, than a lot of people might think," he said. "And when your body is already failing you, it's even more difficult. I really admire all of these people for what they give of themselves."

The 50-something, admitted "failed musician" Cilman began Young @ Heart 25 years ago, when he was working for an elderly housing program. He originally envisioned it is a recreational rehabilitation activity, but public performances by the mostly amateur singers proved to be very popular.

"Young @ Heart has taken on a life of its own," he said, noting that the group has performed all around the world, including Europe.

And according to Cilman, one of the warmest reactions came at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where the film was screened for sold-out crowds in both Salt Lake City and Ogden.

View Comments

"That was, wow, that was just an amazing experience. We had nothing but standing ovations, which are expected when you're performing but not when you're in a movie," he said. "We won't forget that anytime soon."

But Cilman and Young @ Heart are not simply resting on their laurels. He said they're already hard at work on new material, which will include songs by Tom Waits ("Pictures in a Frame") and The Beatles ("Don't Let Me Down").

"These were my suggestions, obviously," he said, laughing.


E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.