Outrageous comedy “Assisted Living: The Musical” performed LIVE at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre with national touring company

Sedona AZ (April 29, 2013) – “Assisted Living: The Musical” comes to Sedona when it is performed by its authors Rick Compton and Betsy Bennet, who are currently doing a national tour of the production. This outrageous, live theatrical event will be presented by the Sedona International Film Festival at its Mary D. Fisher Theatre. There will be four performances May 9-12 — the perfect way to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend!

Mom will never forget you took her to this Assisted Living, and she won’t cut you out of the will.

The show — subtitled “Sex, Drugs and Gettin’ Old,” — delivers laughs from the opening scene. A newly-departed couple is greeted in the afterlife not by Elvis, but by Tiny Tim. The show romps through the “best years of their lives” at Pelican Roost, an active senior living community. The place oozes with characters who each have unique answers to later-life’s questions.

“It’s like a cruise,” explains Pelican Roost resident Naomi Lipshitz-Yamamoto-Murphy, “except the final destination is not Cabo San Lucas.” Naomi is one of 18-characters played by the two actors.

“Assisted Living: The Musical” opened in Naples, Florida in 2010 and immediately drew the attention of national and international press. It enjoyed AP coverage in more than 180 newspapers, and on the radio including the BBC and ABC World Radio News. The San Francisco Examiner called it “Wickedly funny.” The San Jose Mercury News warned, “You’ll die if you miss this one.” Its hometown Naples Daily News simply said, “Hilarious.”

Audiences have expressed all manner of reaction to the show. One little old lady literally laughed herself off her chair and had to be helped up by two strong staffers. Another woman left the show in the middle, to return with a spare oxygen tank for her husband who was “laughing too much.”

The show’s authors have a different take on aging than some. “Old age is no more about fixed incomes and disability than youth is all about student debt and hangovers,” says Rick Compton.

“Imagine a world in which no one expects you to work, no one can get pregnant, and where you get a 20% discount just for being alive,” Betsy Bennett says. “That’s Assisted Living.”

There will be four performances of “Assisted Living: The Musical”: Thursday, May 9 at 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11 at 7 p.m. and a special Mother’s Day matinee May 12 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission and $20 for Film Festival members. Full-time student tickets are $15.

Visit www.SedonaFilmFestival.org for tickets and performance information or call 928-282-1177. Both the Sedona International Film Festival Office and the Mary D. Fisher Theatre are located at 2030 W. SR 89A in West Sedona.