‘Ah, Yes, We Remember It Well’ Agrees Senior Audience

By Dottie Evans

Toes were tapping during the “Tea For Two” soft shoe and there wasn’t a dry eye at the close of “You Are Love,” a duet sung in close harmony by two skilled performers whose acting abilities were on a par with their fine singing skills.

After the songs were over, the resounding applause and broad smiles said it all.

“When the audience reacts like you did, we know it’s working. You were wonderful. We felt you were with us all the way,” singer Peggy King told a roomful of Newtown seniors attending “Music and Memories.”

Performers Peggy and Jerry King were accompanied by Arnie Gross at the piano during the early afternoon show that took place on Wednesday, April 20, at the Newtown Senior Center.

Mr and Mrs King appreciated the fact that most members of this audience had shared the life experiences they were singing about –– experiences that were also described in the accompanying program that included George Eliot’s poem “Two Lovers.”

It was all there –– the roller coaster stages of young love and courtship followed by commitment, marriage, and parenthood. The Kings, along with everyone else in the room, knew how it felt to face an empty nest. No one was immune to the nagging aches and pains of middle and older age.

Yet life itself is to be celebrated, as is the joy of remembering the good times, or so sang these seasoned performers who chose their songs and arranged their short skits accordingly.

“Their show never fails to move and delight us,” said Senior Center Director Marilyn Place. “The music is so inspiring.”

Blending trained voices with simple costume changes and a few props, the pair sang songs of yesteryear that were familiar to many. These included “They Say It’s Wonderful,” “On The Street Where You Live,” “My Funny Valentine,” “The Girl That I Marry,” and “Moonlight Becomes You.”

The arrangements were by pianist Arnie Gross who has worked on Broadway shows including Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Sugar Babies. Mr Gross also performed in the film, All That Jazz. He is currently teaching instrumental ensemble class at the Canterbury School in New Milford and at the Housatonic Valley School in Newtown.

Actor/singer Jerry King has performed in cabaret shows in New York and Connecticut, and in summer stock roles in Annie Get Your Gun and Show Boat among other musicals. He was church soloist at the Danbury United Methodist Church for six years.

Peggy King recently concluded a long teaching career in the Brookfield Public Schools as a fourth grade teacher. She has studied voice at The Singer’s Forum in New York and has been performing duets with her husband, Jerry, for several years.

The couple has three children and four grandchildren.