- You never know what you can do until you try to do it.

- To sit and have all this experience of all these wonderful things in your past and not be able to share them with people is just something that I don't understand.

- I think any time you put yourself out there, it's risky.

I want the people here to experience an hour of laughing at silly things.

I wanna give joy.

[clapping] - [Announcer] Funding for "Show Must Go On" is provided by the Aging Life Care Association.

Working in the aging life care management field to make a meaningful difference by helping older adults age well.

You can learn more at aginglifecare.org.

♪ Alice in Wonderland.

♪ ♪ How do you get to Wonderland ♪ ♪ Over the hill or here or there ♪ ♪ I wonder where ♪ - What a nice sound.

That's a singing sound.

Now do this with me.

Put your hands on your cheeks and it makes your like a [garbled sound] [children sing] - My focus right now in my life and what I'm doing is what I'm calling the fourth quarter.

I know that your first, second and third quarter leads up to it, but it's really important that what I am doing right now, what I am worth, what I'm giving, my gifts to everyone, what I'm doing for myself.

But I refer to as my fourth quarter Remember and you were right on it.

- [Random Child] Yay!

[slow, low, piano music plays] Right now, my life is probably busier than I ever thought it would be.

And I love it.

[piano music picks up pace and excitement] - [Mary] Are you all warm?

- No, I'm fine.

But I'm not going through menopause right now.

- [Mary] Excuse me!

[laughter] Well that's right.

I am much younger.

- You are!

You brag about it.

That's gotta- - [Mary] Much younger.

- Hot stuff is our baby.

It started because I was asked to chair or lead a talent show.

Jane Hauser came to me afterwards and said I love to perform.

Let's team up.

And then Jane's sister Mary moved here.

And so she became the third member of the team.

- We had started out saying, Hey Pat, how would you like us to help you write a talent show?

And so we started to write a show.

And one day we sat down and looked at each other and said, if we're gonna write this, I don't want anybody else doing it but us.

- I'm a big Tom Lehrer fan.

And he had a song called Be Prepared.

♪ Be prepared ♪ ♪ We're the Cedars marching song.

♪ That was it.

So we wrote words to it.

- We just thought it was great.

And we thought, well, gee, everybody laughed.

They liked it.

- And Jane said, well, we're hot stuff.

Bingo.

That's who we were.

- I think the nicest compliment I ever got from doing hot stuff was a 95 year old woman who said to me, "I laughed so hard that I went home and for the first time in 10 years, slept through the night and didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom."

And I thought, you know, Alice if we've done that, we're okay.

[Jane laughs] - We're entertaining.

We're taking people out of their lives for an hour.

You know, the corny jokes.

They all just look at you and go, oh, that was corny.

But they laugh.

Hot Stuff is comedy.

And I never thought of myself as a comedic person.

[piano music plays] Yeah, And FG.

- Before hot stuff, Pat and I had a group called, oh let me see.

[subtitles on screen] There you go.

The Can't Can'ts.

Exactly.

We could get down with our music but we couldn't get back up.

[Karen laughs] So that's why we were called the can'ts.

[Karen laughs] Then Pat moved here and then following that Herb and I moved here as well.

And then that's where I met Jane and Mary - Mary being seven years younger than I was always kind of a pest.

She wore my angora sweater when she shouldn't have, you know, that kind of thing.

But she was fun.

We always had fun together.

- I was out to dinner the other night with my beau and he said.

[subtitles on screen] [laughter] I do too.

He said, honey, let's get it on.

And then I realized he was standing behind me holding my jacket.

- [Unknown Speaker] Only Mary can get a whole- [laughter] - How much more can you milk?

[laughter] She is milking this.

- [Unknown Speaker] Are you finished?

[piano plays] - Pat and Mary and Karen and I have so much fun working with each other.

Sometimes we say, we wish they could just see the rehearsals because it's just fun doing it.

♪ Here we state our turf.

♪ ♪ And we state it good ♪ ♪ To the gang at the Meadows ♪ ♪ Boom, Boom ♪ ♪ Stay out of our hood.

♪ - [Unknown Speaker] Word.

[laughter] - All right, let me see, where did I leave that?

- You're finding one of my favorite things.

[slow piano music plays] This is a picture of my husband Chuck and me in Paris in 1959.

De Gaulle was in power.

The Algerian crisis was going on.

A lot of the police, the stations would be sandbagged because they were having riots and things.

We got caught in a riot on the left bank.

We came up out of the Metro, and we didn't mean to get caught in a riot, but of course Chuck loved it.

[laughs] So, and I was used to it by then.

Paris was just magical.

It was indeed the city of lights.

When we retired to the community here, he was teaching at Davidson and he came home on a Friday and died on a Sunday.

So it was not at all what we anticipated.

We anticipated many years of him writing.

Me telling stories and travel.

And that didn't happen.

So, that's when I reinvented myself and became a storyteller.

Was after he died.

I never told a story until then.

He would be so pleased because he knew I could tell stories.

He had always encouraged me, but never, never judged me when I couldn't.

But I had to decide did I wanna stay in my bathroom and order in, which was very comfortable.

And I did it for a few weeks or did I wanna live in the world.

- Overall when we speak of a person's karma, it means the sum total of the person's direction in life and the tenor of the things that occur around that person.

And so karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny.

We don't have to believe it.

- In my writing class, I have referred to a series of my frustrations.

When I married, the first time we were in the apartment, Ted and I looked at each other and I realized I was supposed to cook.

My mother-in-law must have been a little bit concerned about my domestic training.

She sat me down on a stool one day and she taught me how to iron a shirt.

And I thought, but I'm not wearing the shirt.

Why don't you teach Ted how to iron the shirt?

'Cause he's the one that's gonna wear it.

That was not in the rule book.

Then she took out a pair of Ted's jockey shorts, put them on the ironing board and start ironing his jockey shorts.

And I began to get prickly and hot.

And the next thing I know I'm lying on the floor.

I fainted.

The lesson ended and I never ironed a pair of jockey shorts.

I can tell you that.

[marching piano song begins] ♪ Be prepared.

♪ ♪ That's the Cedars marching song ♪ ♪ Be prepared ♪ - Moving to the Cedars.

You know, I was running 5k.

At that point, I had done a triathlon.

I felt great.

And I looked at a retirement community and said, I'm not ready for that.

♪ Be prepared ♪ ♪ By taking Julie's fitness class.

♪ ♪ She'll make you sweat ♪ ♪ She'll tone your arms ♪ ♪ But not your ass ♪ - I found a place for myself here.

I just kept raising my hand as I'm wanting to do and being able to weed out the things that I liked and the things I did not like.

And then I just took hold.

♪ Use your guests before you play that ♪ ♪ Now your prepared ♪ - Not yet.

Hup!

- I would say, that the fourth quarter is a wonderful beginning.

Each quarter is a beginning.

[marching piano music plays] - We have enjoyed working together so much.

The four of us.

Now with my moving, that may change for them.

I don't know.

- Mary wants to try to live in Miami but not without one more Hot Stuff.

So that's why it's Hot Stuff Last call.

- Well, I am moving back to Miami and that's where my husband and I lived all our lives.

But John died last December.

Quite suddenly.

He died from a pulmonary embolism which takes you like that.

I mean, I was talking to him one minute and the next minute he was no longer with us.

I think we all have had life changing things happen to us, recently.

And we have all been there for one another.

- I started a group here with Pat and there're eight of us and we meet every other week and we sit around and we talk about things that have depth to them.

Things like forgiveness.

We do this and we now call ourselves sisters.

We're all in the process of changing, growing, maturing.

If you can mature at 85.

I guess you can.

- [Karen] This person put down their phone number for their address.

- Well, send it Karen Cooper.

- [Karen] Yeah.

But how do I know where they live?

- They live out next door to Margaret Brook.

- Well, because I've got this and you will look it up.

- 243.

- Oh, okay.

- [Jane] This is not my best penmanship either.

- No, they don't know who did this.

- [Jane] Well, I am putting a little note on each of mines saying written by Pat.

[laughter] - Just put in there PB.

- If they can't, if it's illegible, I'll say its by Pat.

[happy guitar music begins] ♪ - Who?

Oh, there's more scotch tape in here too.

And here's my manor hat.

Okay, that's glued.

And the cha cha there.

- There and there and there.

- Do you always talk to yourself?

- [Pat] Oh, frequently.

- Do you answer yourself?

- [Pat] Yeah.

Well sometimes when the dog can answer, I- - When we kid each other on stage that's the way we are in real life.

- Karen, get the stools.

- [Karen] What?

- Get the stools.

- I wonder why we're so obsessed on finding intelligent life on other planets.

When we can't even find intelligent life here.

- Last year, Karen had to do the ultimate.

She had to get up from the piano and Mary had thrown a rubber chicken at her and she had to pick up this rubber chicken and turn to the audience and lay this.. And I cannot tell you what she said but the audience went down and because Karen doesn't think she's funny and she just lays that line out and was hilarious.

We were dying backstage and she's standing there with this dumb, rubber chicken and then she turns it and marches off.

Sits down at the piano.

Huh.

It was she just took 'em out.

- They didn't ask.

They said, you will do this.

And it was just a very small part.

And I said, yeah, I can do that.

I can do that.

Well then, you know, they give 'em an inch.

They take a mile, you know how that goes.

- Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, we haven't met yet.

- What we've done is taken particular ones that we liked from the other three productions and put them together in this one with maybe some new jokes and things like that.

But we are just hoping that the people here don't remember that well, the last two or three years, and they'll think it's all new.

You may wanna get rid of that.

[slow waltz music plays] - [Mary] I don't know if this will fit.

Let's see.

No!

Too big.

Tonight's show is very bittersweet.

I am looking forward to it quite a bit but afterwards I probably would like to just sneak away and come home and everything will come flooding in.

I'm sure about what this actually means for my life.

- Well, it's the last performance.

When we have to say goodbye to Mary.

A couple days ago, the moving van came to Mary's house.

And I think that was very traumatic for her.

But the show goes on.

So they say.

- No, they have to be here before 4 o'clock.

- If they come in late though.

People then are waiting.

- You'll have a big rush at the beginning.

[background chatter] - I wanna give joy.

I want the people here to experience just an hour of letting their hair down and laughing at silly things and having some joy in their life.

I will miss doing that.

I really will.

[clearing throat sounds] - [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen!

We will be dimming the light shortly so that the person seated next to you looks more attractive.

[audience laughs] If that doesn't work, there will be wine later.

[audience laughs] [piano music begins] ♪ Hello Dolly ♪ ♪ Well hello Danny ♪ ♪ Were so glad to have you back to see Hot Stuff ♪ [cheers] ♪ Your looking good, Dolly ♪ ♪ Lookin' swell, Manny ♪ ♪ You can sit back ♪ ♪ You can relax ♪ ♪ While we huff and puff ♪ ♪ Feel the room swayin' ♪ ♪ Karen's playin' ♪ ♪ Some of our old favorite songs from way back when ♪ ♪ So, golly gee, singers ♪ ♪ Find us empty knees, singers ♪ ♪ We are on the stage, again ♪ ♪ We are on the stage, again ♪ ♪ Hot Stuff's back and on the stage again ♪ [audience claps] - I think the fact that my computer has more memory than I do, is really miserable - You know, these days when I lean over to re velcro my shoes, I think to myself, what else can I do while I'm down here.

[audience laughs] [piano music plays] - Jane, put on your see through nightie.

It'll make you feel better.

- Yeah, but Pat, I don't know anybody who can see through it.

[audience laughs] [audience cheers and claps] - You never know what you can do until you try to do it.

You're not always gonna succeed, but have you always succeeded?

Is that your measuring stick that you don't try anything unless you know you'll succeed.

I have a little bit of that in me.

That's for sure.

But by the same token, there was a time I didn't know if I could perform on stage until I actually did it.

♪ Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top ♪ ♪ Dirt's too rocky by far ♪ ♪ That's why all the folks on Rocky Top ♪ ♪ Get their corn in a jar ♪ ♪ Rocky Top you'll always be ♪ ♪ Home, sweet home to me ♪ ♪ Good ol' Rocky Top ♪ ♪ Rocky Top, Tennessee ♪ [song change] ♪ We have the concert in the evening ♪ ♪ Halt, halt, the bus is on its way ♪ ♪ It's at the front gate ♪ ♪ We hate to be late ♪ ♪ So get us to the show on time ♪ ♪ Well, Ray, we're here and we are on time ♪ ♪ Thanks to the driver of the bus ♪ ♪ We both missed the downbeat ♪ ♪ Get us to our upseat ♪ ♪ You got us to the show ♪ ♪ You got us to the show ♪ ♪ Oh yes, you got us to the show ♪ ♪ On time ♪ [audience claps and cheers] - I think anytime you put yourself up out there for people to either like, or not like, it's risky.

And I'm a person who likes to have people like me.

- Oh, to my late lamented bosom.

[audience laughs] There are wrinkles in my decolletage.

At least that's what I think it was.

My bosom slipped quite a bit.

And what is there?

I hardly care.

All right, I'm getting old.

But happily, I now am bold.

This is no ode, its edo-mage [audience laughs] To my wrinkled and dappled- tage.

[audience laughs] [slow piano music plays] - To sit and have all this experience of all these wonderful things in your past and not be able to put them together and pass them on.

Share them with people.

Give.

Is just something that I don't understand.

To rest on what you were has no heavy value.

It's a respect, but a value is what you're doing right now.

And if you have all this experience and all this knowledge and you don't give it?

Why not?

And this is the thing.

Do something.

Give.

- Your age is a guessing game.

How old do you think I am?

[audience laughs] - [Mary] And then this strange thing happens.

If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again.

- I'm 100 and a half!

[audience laughs] - May we all be little kids again.

- I don't say just wait till your fourth quarter.

Live so that your fourth quarter can be enriching.

Build on your experience.

Do things now that you build on so that when you get to each quarter, you have experience.

You have a good basis and you have choices.

- We have tried to toast you with the champagne of laughter.

We hope you are intoxicated.

[audience claps and cheers] [sad slow piano music plays] [clapping] - Oh my gosh this is so beautiful!

[ laughter] [sad slow piano music continues] ♪ [champagne pops] [cheering] [sad slow piano music continues] ♪ - This is my pithy for today.

Most men resembled great deserted palaces.

The owner occupies only a few rooms and it's closed off wings where he never ventures.

So this is part of the adventure of being a wise woman.

Finding those empty rooms and opening the doors.

And seeing the talents and what we have to offer.

And there's a lot.

[upbeat guitar music starts] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - Funding for Show Must Go On is provided by the Aging Life Care Association.

Working in the aging life care management field to make a meaningful difference by helping older adults age well.

You can learn more at aginglifecare.org.

[piano outro] [upbeat music]