ON THE TOWN:

It was a summer evening of melodic grandeur as the Colony Chorus of the Burbank Senior Artist Colony kicked off last Thursday evening’s concert with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” from the 1945 film “State Fair.”

Under the direction of Betti Vincent, the chorus presented “Songs for a Summer Night” in the main theater of the East Verdugo Avenue arts complex.

A talented musician with a quick wit and bawdy comedic flair, Vincent gave no thought to political correctness during Thursday’s performance as she took her place at the keyboard and summoned the attention of the woman, or as she calls them, “the broads,” of the chorus that included Millie Rosin, Ruth Morseon, Glorya Schklair, Helen Miller, Carmelita Bronson-Smith, Lenore Forsythe, Carol Lessin, Erica King, Amalya Harutynyan, Sally Connors and Dorothy Berlin.

Following the opening number, chorus member Glorya Schklair took center stage as the featured soloist on Stephen Sondheim’s “Let Me Entertain You” from the 1959 musical “Gypsy.” Schklair also took the spotlight on Kay Kyser’s 1939 novelty song, “Three Little Fishies,” which delighted the assemblage that included Glorya’s family members Maddie, Claudia and Dorie Bailey.

Between the performances of standards such as “Aba Daba Honeymoon” and “Young at Heart,” the audience thoroughly enjoyed Vincent’s off-the-cuff anecdotes and asides that were liberally peppered with teasing winks and her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.

Among the evening’s highlights were the performance of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” featuring Helen Miller; a stirring rendition of “Give Me Your Tired” by Carmelita Bronson-Smith, and the talented Lenore Forsythe’s take on Johnny Mercer’s “Blues in the Night” and “It’s So Nice To Have a Man Around the House,” made popular by Dinah Shore.

A medley of what Vincent called “silly songs,” including “The Hut Sut Song,” “Mairzy Doats” and “Rag Mop,” brought the performance to a close that was then capped with an encore of “Copacabana” featuring a whiskey-chuggin’ Lenore Forsythe as a Carmen Mirandized showgirl.

Following the performance, after-party attendees included Maureen Kellen-Taylor, who serves as the vice president of EngAGE — The Art of Active Aging, and Colony staff members Karmin Murcelo, Joseph Caro and Rose Jelaca, who was accompanied by members of her family Petar Mladenovic and Sandra Lendvai of Croatia who just recently earned her law degree. Others enjoying the evening were Dellie Hahn, Marty and Christine Kasparian, Marjorie Czarnecki, Helen Hall; Jackie Sagorsky; Dorian Best, Melva Unter and Connie Nichols.

The Burbank Senior Arts Colony offers an environment for creative seniors, many of whom have worked as professionals in the entertainment and media industries as writers, musicians, actors, hair designers, makeup artists and in numerous other artistic disciplines. The downtown residential facility includes art studios, galleries, a screening room, theater and radio and television production facilities.

 DAVID LAURELL can be contacted at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.