Hunched in wheelchairs, the ladies of West Valley Healthcare Center perked up as Chris Taylor began strolling among them, crooning "Beautiful Dreamer."
Luisa Federovsky, 90, didn't let the moment slip by, even if she had forgotten to put in her dentures that morning. As Taylor passed, the great-grandmother from Argentina grabbed his hand and locked eyes for an impromptu duet.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, February 20, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
Holiday shows: An article in the Dec. 29, 2008, California section about performers who volunteer for holiday shows at nursing homes indicated that volunteer Chris Taylor did not sing professionally. Taylor has appeared in movies and on television, and has performed in more than 25 stage productions, including musicals.
"Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day," she belted out in a strong and clear soprano. "Lulled by the moonlight, have all passed away!"
'Tis the season of the nursing home holiday singalong. But this recent show at the Canoga Park care center was not the standard staple led by an activities director and volunteers.
Rena LeBlanc has assembled a troupe of performers -- many culled from Hollywood -- who feel as comfortable on stage as they do before a room of seniors. One singer just ended a tour of "Les Miserables"; another was the lead singer in the opera "Aida" at the Ford Theatres in the Hollywood Hills. Others have performed on Broadway and in the concert halls of New York and Los Angeles.
Taylor isn't a professional. But he's good enough to sing with the pros at Vitello's in Studio City, an Italian supper club.
"My pianist says the shows are so good we should charge a two-drink minimum," LeBlanc joked. "I choose my performers carefully."
The volunteer troupe, called Cabaret, is in its 20th year of performing at nursing homes all over Los Angeles. Though the holiday show typically is the grandest, LeBlanc organizes 10 to 12 acts a year.
LeBlanc, a freelance journalist who will put her age only as "more than a half-century," said the effort is a labor of love that honors her mother. Requiring constant care, her mother lived her final years in a nursing home. It wasn't a good experience, LeBlanc said. Neglect and bed sores eventually forced her mother to seek alternative care at a fragile time in her life, she said.
LeBlanc thought that trauma would never leave her. But the moments of joy she sees on the faces of nursing home residents during Cabaret acts have transformed the old wounds, she said.
"When my mother died, I was relieved that I'd never have to step foot in another nursing home," she said. "Now it's an uplifting experience."
Mark Curran started his own nursing home act a few years back for more practical reasons. The Long Beach singer, 52, wanted to keep his musical skills sharp between professional gigs.
