BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Heritage at Brentwood retirement community hosted its annual "Amateur Hour" on October 6, featuring a tap troupe led by a 92-year-old resident.
In May, NewsChannel 5 attended one of the tap troupe's rehearsals where Toni DeTorre lead the class.
"My group has been working for this show for the last three months. And they have been fantastic. So we decided that we were going to do 'Singing in the Rain.' So, we have worked and worked and worked," she recalled.
DeTorre grew up tap dancing, taught classes throughout her life, and thought her tapping days were over when she and her husband moved to The Heritage.
"I was gonna give it up until I came here. And they got me started again. So, I'll hang in there until I can't do it anymore," she said.
The Amateur Hour featured other residents with a similar mantra.
"My favorite is the woman that was last that had the telephone. She is great," said DeTorre of a woman in her 90s who performed an iteration of "Chantilly Lace" that earned her a standing ovation.
There are not any prizes for the Amateur Hour but rather true entertainment and celebration of talents.
"I just think that they did a fantastic job putting it together. And of course, knowing it was going to be an ‘amateur hour’ even made it more fascinating that we got as many as we did. Because it's just at this age, you begin to wonder, is it gonna be good? And it was good," DeTorre said.
