Category: Ed Talks

Artwork Marks, Reflects, and Celebrates Life

Poster of "Equus" Broadway program cover from the 1970s.

I decided to look around our apartment to see which of the things that I own have real meaning to me and that I would miss if I lost them. In most cases, it’s the art on my walls. In all cases it’s not just the pieces, but what they represent, that holds meaning for me.

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My Love/Hate Relationship

A black and white graphic of thumbs up and thumbs down.

I started re-evaluating my relationship with Zoom. It wasn’t Zoom’s fault. Zoom had been loyal and reliable. I didn’t want to leave Zoom for another platform, just another medium, like, maybe a book. As I was about to engage Zoom with the, “It’s not you, it’s me” approach, I had a realization; zoom is the only thing that gives me a connection, however tenuous, to other people.

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The Theatre of the Now

Black and white computer with video play button graphic. Created by Megan Chown from Noun Project.

To me, not wasting time means not wasting the opportunity to create something. So if we’re trying to write NOW for the theatre, are we writing for what theatre is now or sometime in the (hopefully not too distant) future? Why can’t we do both? There are many theatre makers who are working hard to keep the medium alive in any way they can — some more successfully than others.

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What to Do?

These days that indecisiveness is compounded by being thrust into a situation that has no precedent, for which there is no handbook, and has no end that anyone can see. The future is always a mystery and not knowing is always part of the equation in trying to figure out your life moves. But this is off the chart unknown.

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National Efforts Prove Arts Ed Vital to Lifelong Learning

Public funding for the arts at the state and national levels has always supported arts education. Historically, that has meant funding programs serving the k-12 population. Shortly after we launched Lifetime Arts more a decade ago, two state arts agencies, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, expanded …

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Where Do I Belong: Finding the Right Place to Retire and Create

State map by Andrejs Kirma from Noun Project. A red heart is placed on the map.

I’ve never lived more than thirteen miles away from Yankee Stadium.  As I enter my “third act” I’m feeling psychologically ready to retire, which impels me to ask the question, “Where do I want to live?”  I’ve spent parts of the last 16 summers in the Berkshires. The Berkshires is a highland region mostly located …

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A Tug of WAR: Work, Aging and Retirement

black and white graphic of a tug of war game

An article by Jill Smolowe in Next Avenue posed the question: “Do we slow down because we retire? Or do we retire because we slow down?” Ms. Smolowe described her life in “retirement” and it sounded like anything but retiring.  She described her current life as consisting of volunteer work, exercise, meditation, getting together with …

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Wired for It: How Music Making Benefits the Older Adult Mind

Music Composer by ProSymbols from the Noun Project

In Next Avenue‘s most recent Vitality Arts Report, I came across an article championing the benefits of music making to older adults. To anyone who has read, “Ed Talks,” or spent any time on the Lifetime Arts website, this is not news. What I found more dramatic as I explored the report further, was the …

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Stories About Stories: Diversity and Complexity at Two Memorable Memoir Events

participants in the Mt. Kisco Memoir Writing workshop

As we at Lifetime Arts always note, no two Creative Aging programs are the same. They are shaped by the teaching artists, the participants, and the venue. This past year, our initiative, Creative Aging in Westchester County, supported by the Westchester Community Foundation, resulted in five new programs including two that focused on memoir writing. …

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“Performed by the People Who Lived It”: Theatre 55 Stages Shows Older Adults Want [VIDEO]

Theatre 55's cast of the musical,"Hair"

I’ve written in this space about the pleasure of not being condescended to as an older adult in an acting company made up of much younger theatre artists. My most recent experience acting in the Red Monkey Theatre/M&M Production of Chekov’s, “The Seagull” was very positive, but the reality is, engaging parts for older actors …

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Art Imitates Life in The Waverly Gallery

Black and white version of drama masks. Created by Kim Eriksson from Noun Project.

Written almost 20 years ago, and a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, Kenneth Lonergan’s, The Waverly Gallery, is very much a “memory” play. It depicts a multigenerational family of non-religious, Jewish, NYC intellectuals. The focus of the play, and the family’s energies, is the rapid cognitive decline of the 80- something grandmother, Gladys, a …

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Not Your Cup of Tea?

black and white graphic of cup of tea

Recently, I was on the train with a young actor, Julia, who related a story. Her father, who is around 60 years old, came into New York to see her perform and on a subsequent evening, the two went to a Billy Joel concert. After the concert Julia’s father said, “You know if I had …

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Ed Talks About Older Actors on Stage and Screen

Are we there yet? Glenda Jackson, 82, is currently starring in a universally praised Broadway production of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. This is on the heels of her King Lear at the Old Vic in London. (Image: Tristram Kenton for the Observer) Elaine May, 86, comes back to the New York theatre after 50 years …

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Ed Talks About Stress

As I inch slowly to retirement or cutting back my time (I’ve been saying this for three years now) I am inundated with examples of how I “should” be spending my leisure time. Much of the propaganda about retirement extols the virtue of the removal of work related stress. I’m wondering if “stress” is getting …

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Ed and Ashton Applewhite: A Conversation about Ageism

Ashton Applewhite was recently named Influencer of the Year by Next Avenue atop their list of 50 Influencers of Aging for 2016. A writer based in Brooklyn, New York, Ashton is the author of the recently released (and enthusiastically reviewed) This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. Applewhite blogs at her website, This Chair Rocks, has written …

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Ed and Independence: On My Own

In my effort to have these monthly missives reflect days or months that are observed annually, I considered Nectarine Month, National Drive Thru Day, Barbie-in-a-Blender Day, Sports Cliché Day, and many others. I fall back, however, to the most obvious- Independence Day. It made me think about our individual independence. That enviable quality held in …

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Ed and Older Americans Month

By Ed Friedman Old?…Yeah… So? May has been designated Older Americans Month (OAM) by the Administration on Aging since 1963.  OAM acknowledges the contributions of older people in the U.S. led by the Administration for Community Living, and the annual observance offers the opportunity to learn about, support, and celebrate our nation’s older citizens. So… …

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