Unfortunate Synonyms

Yesterday I was all excited hearing about this group which I mistakenly thought would be another venue for singing opera scenes for elderly shut-ins, which I have done before.

They apparently want "young musical theater professionals" (boldface mine).

As this features a genre of singing that is not my forte (I can throw a musical theater number in at the end of a set of arias at one of these events, but I still sound like I am singing opera) I am not going to pursue this but I am deeply offended by the use of the word "young".

Yes, in this age of tv and movies I can understand a director wanting someone who looks young playing a young character. This is just a fact of life, similar to a director not wanting an overweight woman playing Violetta or Mimi.

What I take offense at is that people seem to equate "new, eager, fresh, undiscovered, not quite 'there' yet, but growing and improving every day" with young.

The world is full of people who are not young, who are discovering or re-discovering something for the first time, as was written about in this article who are as fresh, new, and excited as anyone half or one third their age.

What's so strange, is that the one area in which the media has it right is that 60 is the new 40 and so on down the line (I mean everyone agrees now that 30 is the new 21 and has for years). So why haven't people looking for talent, even in the dull, drab corporate workplace, caught onto this?

And of course this again brought home a longing that I have that is never fulfilled: seeing or reading somewhere that there's a group out there looking for someone like me. Someone older in years, starting fresh (well, ok, if I started now 8 years ago it's not quite fresh) who is full of enthusiasm, who can "model" the fact that older people can still be full of energy enthusiasm, and, not only talent, but the self-discipline to hone that talent despite fighting against great odds?

I mean, OK, I am not going to waste time being bitterly disappointed over this, it would just be nice if I didn't have to create every opportunity for myself.