Songs to sing at a Nursing Home

Here are some of my picks:

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
Impossible Dream

Also not on your list:

Music of the Night

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Updated On: 7/29/08 at 03:35 PM

The entire score of 70, Girls, 70.

The title song for Mame

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Lmao, "Vatican" sounds like a perfect choice...

I think you should sing "Die Vampire, Die!"

"Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better"

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Any Porter is probably good. Rodgers and Hart ar eprobably good. How about "My Funny Valentine" of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"?

Not THIS I know something about! Both my folks have Alzheimer's (well, had, Dad just passed last year) and I know a great measurement that will help when performing in nursing homes (something my parents did every year of their lives, bless em).

Most people in nursing homes are 75 to 95, so do songs that they heard when they were in their 20s to 40s. These are the ones they will remember - if they still can - and enjoy the most.

So it's the Rodgers and Hammrstain stuff, Lerner and Loewe, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. Spice it up with a few Kern numbers and maybe one of two more contemporary but don't be surprised if they nod off during Andrew Lloyd Webber. Hell, I do too.

Also do the war standards - "The White Cliff of Dover" and of course Ivor Novello's (do you know who he is? You should.) "Keep The Home Fires Burning" and "Lilly Marlene.

People in homes are often very lonely, so do the stuff that builds up the feeling of home and love - they are wanted and cherished and lay off the "I Wish I Were In Love Again" and "My Man's (Woman's) Gone" stuff.

Celebrate life.

And one more thing before we go.

You're a wonderful person for doing this.

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I work with the senior population and Alzheimer's population in a recreation capacity and often do music groups with them. Basically, all of the songs you have are great. Also, anything Rat Pack-like will also wow them. Break a leg! I'm sure they will LOVE it.

That's a pretty good list. I've done this and gotten great reactions to anything from shows like Kismet, Showboat, Rogers and Hart/Hammerstein, etc. and very tepid reactions to anything even bordering on contemporary (even something well known like Les Mis). Most of the suggestions in this thread are good too. The last time I did a show, the recreation coordinator raved about my program selection just based on the fact that a lot of people who were doing this for them weren't really targeting the audience properly, and a lot of the songs I performed apparently just aren't heard enough anymore. So you're definitely going about this the right way and I think whatever you put together will be a smashing success!

From your list, these stand out to me.

Some Enchanted Evening
I Get a Kick Out of You
People Will Say We’re in Love
Sunrise, Sunset
I’ve Got Rhythm
Night and Day
Something’s Coming
I Have Dreamed
If Ever I Would Leave You
Climb Ev’ry Mountain
Hernando’s Hideaway
If I Were a Rich Man
Lullaby of Broadway
My Favorite Things
My Funny Valentine
On The Street Where You Live
Ol’ Man River
You’ll Never Walk Alone
Till There Was You
There’s No Business Like Show Business
Edelweiss
Get Me to the Church
Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’
Put On a Happy Face
Impossible Dream
Guys and Dolls
Puttin’ On the Ritz
Steppin’ Out With My Baby
Try to Remember

I'd like to recommend And This is My Beloved and Luck Be A Lady, if they are not out of your range (though they may be tenor pieces?).

Also, I've found you may want to keep the between-song banter down to a minimum. A lot of the senior citizens I've performed for can hear singing and music okay, but haven't been able to hear mic-ed speaking voices nearly as well, if at all, from the audience. Break a leg!

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Sarah Silverman - You're Gonna Die Soon

70 girls 70 is a great show, and I have directed it. But I can't think of a single reason to sing even a single song from it at a nursing home, including the opening number. They do not "hear" or "absorb" any lyrics except to songs they still know by heart. And why are songs about or sung by old people what they want to hear? They aren't. The idea is to find songs that everybody knows and will remember. You already have a great list, but frankly it is lacking on the patriotic ones -- guaranteed to get them going.