By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

It’s never too late to make your theatrical debut; just ask George Heald, who took his first onstage role at age 81. Heald had been in the process of fine-tuning his vocal cords when he was coaxed into playing Father White in last fall’s performance of The Butler Did It, Singing at Brooksby.

Today, Heald is still dedicated to his private voice lessons with Cindy Mathieson, a vocal instructor with the North Shore Music Theatre, and he plans to take to the stage again.

“I just wanted to get better. I wanted to prove to myself and other people that just because you have a few years on you, you don’t stop learning and you don’t stop living,” Heald says.

Practice, practice, practice
Heald has always had a talent for song, but it wasn’t until he moved to Brooksby that he decided to hone his skills with professional lessons. Once a week for an hour, Heald and Mathieson fill the private dining room with music from plays like Camelot during their lessons. But each song Heald performs requires hours of outside dedication. He says he runs through a song about 30 times during the week between lessons.

“Walking down the corridors, I’m singing it in my head; in the elevator, I’m singing it in my head,” Heald muses. “You carry it around with you.” When the lesson with Mathieson begins, it’s not the song he’s been practicing that first fills the air, but a series of warm-up exercises. She plays the piano while instructing Heald through tongue exercises as well as words and numbers sung on different keys.

Work and play
But it’s not all work. “We do have a lot of fun, you know,” Heald says through laughs after Mathieson instructs him to pant like a dog in order to catch his breath.