The Vaudevillians are still singing, dancing and telling jokes for audiences, but the days may be numbered for "B.C.'s #1 senior entertainment troupe" without an infusion of youth and new performers.
Monday mornings, Surrey Free Methodist Church is where members of the troupe rehearse for shows including "Young at Heart," set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at White Rock Elks Hall.
"We've done four shows this year and now this one, so we're doing a little bit but not anywhere near what we used to," lamented Judi Georgetti, show emcee.
"We've lost so many members, people who've passed away," she added. "We went from a group of 24 performers down to 10. COVID shut us down for three years, and when you lose three years in your 80s, that makes a huge difference, you know. When we came back, it took a long time to get up to speed."
Still, the show must go on.
Tickets are $20 at the door for the Oct. 26 event, a benefit for BC Family Hearing Resource Society and Elks Recreation Children's Camp Society of B.C.
It's a rare public stage for The Vaudevillians, who typically perform at local care facilities.
Many of the troupe members have been involved for at least a decade, some since 2004 when it all started in Surrey. Over the years their annual "bursary shows” at Surrey Arts Centre raised more than $200,000 to help financially support performing-arts students at Douglas College. The Jim Trimble Memorial Bursary pays tribute to troupe co-founder "Diamond" Jim, who died in April 2022 at age 91.
"Now we're also supporting Surrey School District, something closer to home," Georgetti noted. "We've been giving anywhere from two to five scholarships, depending and how much income we get, for students going into the performing arts field. We named one of them the Barbara Hall Memorial Scholarship to give her credit for all that she did (until her death last December). She was our stage manager.
"Barbara used to go to the graduations and hand out the certificates to the students," Georgetti added. "We've heard wonderful stories about the kids who've been given the scholarships. Some want to go into opera, some want to do things like set design, something in performing arts. It's great."
Georgetti describes pal Doris Carruthers, 91, as the troupe's "elder stateswoman, probably the most active and energetic of our bunch."
Carruthers blushed a bit.
"I love playing my guitar and singing, and I just enjoy performing," she said. "Way back in the '50s my husband and I started a little band in Toronto, the Country Drifters. I played with Ian and Sylvia Tyson and, oh, different musicians like Tommy Hunter. We were all in the same scene, the groups. I enjoyed all that."
These days the troupe marches on without co-founding dancer Pat Trimble (Jim's wife), who is nursing a broken ankle and hand after a fall.
"We need some new members," Georgetti underlined. "We've cut back on our costumes and props, because we just can't haul that stuff around like we used to. We have two performers in their late-60s, and the average age of the group is 83 – the average age!"
Dan Minor is still playing piano behind troupe members including Graham Lawrence, 90, who performs despite some vision loss.
"You know, the thing that impressed me one of the most were the costumes," said Lawrence, who once taught interior design at BCIT. "I went to a show at Surrey Arts Centre and the costumes were really, really sharp, pretty impressive. Now we all wear different costumes, which are great."
Another troupe member, Karen Bonardelli, hasn't yet turned 70.
"I was part of a ladies group that got tickets, and was captivated by the (Vaudevillians) show we saw," she recalled. "I said, 'I wanna be a Vaudevillian!' Afterwards, I told Dan, 'One day I want to be in this group,' and he said I could audition. Well, it took seven years to finally do that audition, I think April 2017. But you know, here I am. It's a great family here."
People who are keen to join the Vaudevillians can email thetrimbles@shaw.ca, or show up at Surrey Free Methodist Church (12371 96 Ave.) Monday mornings starting at 9:30 a.m.
