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Jul 23, 12:59 PM

Entertainer lifts seniors' spirits

Author, singer uses humor to boost morale

BY LORRAINE AGNEW
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

It is often said that perception is everything.

But author, singer and public relations specialist Anthony Cirillo, 47, wants to change some perceptions about long-term care facilities.

Anthony Cirillo, 47, says he lets the mood of the audience guide him during his preformance. Image © 2004, GNS

For instance, said Cirillo, many have the idea that a long-term care facility for seniors is the place people go to die. The reality, he said, is they are places where people go to live.

That's why the Philadelphia native wrote a light-hearted and often-funny book titled "Who Moved My Dentures?" that deals with this and 12 other false perceptions.

Long-term care, he said, including retirement communities, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes, is something everyone should learn about because people are living longer.

"People should be looking at these issues," he said.

Cirillo says he entertains at many of these facilities and assures people that he is performing to a "live" audience.

"These seniors are alive, very aware of what I am doing," he said, adding that most seniors he meets are intelligent and savvy about current affairs.

Such is the case at The Fountains of Melbourne, where Cirillo will perform at the monthly Happy Hour on Thursday.

"We enjoy Anthony," says Jan Joiner, the Healthy Strides director at the independent and assisted-living facility. He's performed several times at The Fountains, including last year's open concert.

"He always has a theme with the show," said Jackie Fox, activities director at Cadbury at Cherry Hill, an assisted-living community in New Jersey. This time, it was songs made popular by people born in June like Barry Manilow, Judy Garland and Pat Boone and other June-related songs.

His audience often sang along with him, clapped their hands and tapped their feet.

His other life

Cirillo said that in his "other life" he is a marketing consultant in the healthcare arena. He directed the marketing and public relations at Rancocas and Zurbrugg hospitals in New Jersey until 1997. He eventually started his own marketing consulting company, Fast Forward Strategic Planning and Marketing Consulting, in North Carolina.

He said he began his book in 2001, quite by accident.

"I started collecting these stories, and all of the little stories started telling the book story."

He said he began to realize that these seniors all had something in common and there was an overall message.

"Part of the reason I wrote the book is because I wanted to talk to people about long-term care to erase their fears. Raise awareness," he said.

Although he enjoyed writing the book, singing, he said, is his first love.

His mother, Philomena Cirillo, admits that when he was a teenager practicing with his friends at home, "I had to leave the house."

But she added, "I have come to quite a few of (his shows). I think he is wonderful."

Cirillo, who lives in North Carolina with his wife, Kathy, said, "My long-term goal is to have, for every month of the year, a CD for that month."

Then he added, with a laugh, "MTV meets the seniors."

He also hopes to produce a DVD so he can reach the thousands of seniors in all types of facilities throughout the country, he said.

The father of three and grandfather of two said over the years he has developed a large client list and travels from Florida to the Carolinas to the South Jersey region several times a year.

This trip includes a number of stops in Florida, including the Vista Manor in Titusville and Westminster Towers in Orlando.

More online

To purchase books, CDs, videos or other resources, visit: www.anthonyssong.com