BROADWAY TAKES ON ALZHEIMER'S

HAWTHORNE -- Four Broadway stars hoped to evoke memories as they performed favorite songs for local senior citizens, some diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, on June 4.

Sixteen show tunes were performed by singers, whose credits include "Les Misérables" and "Mary Poppins," for a crowd of 350 in a ballroom at Van Dyk Health Care at Park Place, an assisted-living facility on Goffle Road.

The title of the program, "When Broadway Goes Dark ... Van Dyk Goes Live," was an allusion to the fact that many Broadway theaters are closed on Monday nights.

The concert coincided with the start of Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month and kindled feelings of nostalgia in Flo Starrett, a Van Dyk resident who said she was left to pine for the olden days.

"I enjoyed it very much," said Starrett, 85, formerly of Wyckoff.

Music is a source of comfort for people with dementia, said Kenneth Zaentz, president and chief executive officer of Alzheimer's New Jersey, a Roseland-based nonprofit.

"It can stimulate memories," said Zaentz, who attended the concert. "People make connections to music."

Alzheimer's affects about 600,000 patients and their caregivers across the state, Zaentz said.

Alicia Terrana, who is Starrett's niece and health care proxy, said her aunt has certain "memory challenges," but that she has not been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Terrana moved to New Jersey from Colorado to care for her ailing aunt five years ago. The concert "meant a lot to her," Terrana added. "It made me happy to see her happy -- it was endearing."

Most who show signs of Alzheimer's have the late-onset form of the disease, in which symptoms become apparent when they reach their mid-60s, according to Alzheimer's New Jersey.

The singers, accompanied by a three-piece band, opened with a quartet performance of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," a ditty popularized by "Jersey Boys," the musical.

The performers -- Major Attaway, of "Aladdin"; Catherine Brunell, of "Something Rotten!"; Leslie Kritzer, of "The Honeymooners"; and James Moye, of "Dear Evan Hansen" -- also sang as a group "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "New York, New York."

Between numbers, they told the crowd about their personal links to Alzheimer's.

Moye, whose grandparents suffered from the disease, said it was a "privilege" to perform.

"I've seen the devastation that Alzheimer's can cause a family," Moye said. Later, while he autographed Playbills and posed for photos with Van Dyk residents, he said: "It was a joyous evening. It's wonderful to see the power of music."

Kritzer once starred in an off-Broadway production of "The Memory Show," a musical reflecting the struggles of a mother and her daughter to come to grips with Alzheimer's.

"Music is very healing for them," Kritzer said. "Oftentimes, the elderly are overlooked and pushed aside. This allows us to bring them back to a different time, and I love doing it."

Bob Van Dyk, who also owns nursing homes in Montclair and Ridgewood, said Kimberly Williams-Paisley, known for the title role in the 1991 film "Father of the Bride," will visit the Hawthorne facility to talk to its residents about her experience with dementia in the fall.

Williams-Paisley, wife of county music star Brad Paisley, penned a memoir, which was published in 2016, to detail how memory loss crippled her mother's ability to recognize her loved ones.

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com