Pianist brings performances back to senior living community

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    OLATHE, KS (KCTV) — Now that many senior living communities are vaccinated and allowing visitors again, performers are bringing live music to an appreciative audience.

Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, Stan Stuckey used to play the piano at the Cedar Lake Village in Olathe every week. In April he returned for the first time in more than a year to perform a variety of classical music, Broadway tunes and contemporary hits.

Stuckey’s audience missed him. When his fingers found their rhythm on his first day back, the feet in the crowd found theirs, too. They tapped their toes as he played Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” with a flourish, wiping his brow after the final notes.

“I’ve always wanted to come back and play for them,” Stuckey said after the show. “They’re so nice to me.”

Mary and Lloyd Brown have missed listening to him perform.

“It makes you feel good,” Brown said. “You feel peaceful.

The couple will occasionally get up and dance as Stuckey plays. They prefer the waltzes. As Stuckey played “Edelweiss” from the sound of music Lloyd twirled Mary in the hall of the village’s community building.

“I don’t think I’ve every stepped the same thing twice. She’s good at following whatever stupid thing I do,” Lloyd quipped.

“I make him look good,” Mary said, winking.

The Browns aren’t the only ones who get involved in Stuckey’s music. Carl Kruse, who began taking lessons as a 7 year old boy, often unboxes his violin to play folk tunes alongside Stuckey.

“When you get up in your 80s and 90s its good to have something like that that you enjoy,” said Kruse, who is 84.

As a year without live music — without waltzes–comes to an end, Stuckey’s entertainment is care for the soul.

“Music is all about making people feel a little better than they were when you first started playing,” he said.

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