To celebrate Elvis Week, the 5-Star Choir at Arcare Portarlington aged care facility recently rocked the house by performing an Elvis-themed concert for the community.
The uplifting performance comprised of 12 residents and two Arcare lifestyle team members, who say they worked hard to hit the high notes and memorise the infamous lyrics.
“We’ve been practicing for months and after a couple of sessions, we really came together as a group,” says resident and choir member, Kate.
The gifted group sang classics such as Love Me Tender and I Can’t Help Falling in Love, while kitted out in Elvis-inspired costumes.
Resident, Bev, also passionately played the piano throughout the concert saying, “I played
piano as a child and learnt to play by ear. Now, I play as part of the Portarlington 5-star
choir.”
The overflowing crowd cheered at the end of every song and the group’s confidence only
grew with every applause and sign of encouragement from the rest of the community.
Portarlington’s Choir group was officially formed back in May 2019, after residents requested that a choir or musical group be started within the community. The lifestyle team quickly began recruiting residents to join the group, and rehearsals began shortly after that.
Since then, the talented Choir have grown in numbers and have also previously sung songs from popular musicals such as The Sound of Music, Singin’ in the Rain and Oklahoma.
“The residents have all worked incredibly hard in rehearsals and thoroughly enjoyed
bejewelling their own costumes. It’s activities like these that really boost the spirits of our
residents and it encourages them to socialise and form new relationships with people,”
Arcare Portarlington Lifestyle Coordinator, Ebony said.
The brilliant and extraordinary show closed with a song and dance from Jailhouse Rock featuring a group of carers and the choir – they certainly brought the house down!
