Who: Bob Stefani and Dorothy Auld

What: Hot & Hip, Golden Age of Variety

When: April 16 at noon, April 17 at 2 p.m. April 18 and 19 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Where: Dofasco Arts Centre

Tickets: 905-522-7529

Forget those kids on Canadian Idol. Oh sure, they're hot. But they're not half as seasoned as Senior Idol superstars Dorothy Auld and Bob Stefani, at left.

They know about celebrity. They've been driven in the limo. They've been gussied-up and coiffed. They sang in the Imperial Room of the Fairmont Royal York.

Auld won Senior Idol for Hamilton. Stefani won for Burlington. They placed in the top 10 for Canada. They were good, too. I've seen the video.

Now you can watch them strut their stuff in Hamilton.

Auld and Stefani are part of The Golden Age of Variety, that high-powered senior entertainment featuring comedy, song and dance.

Dorothy Auld started her theatre career working backstage with the Hamilton Players' Guild. She produced several Guild shows and acted in some of their children's productions.

"My friend Muriel Stevens made me go out and join the group," Auld says. A smart looking 78-year-old with a smile that lights up a room, Auld wanted to be an actor centre stage.

"Well, I was a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, a slave girl in Ali Baba and a maid in Life With Father."

Not exactly star spots. "Well, now, 40 years later, I'm singing centre stage. Just shows how things can evolve."

Bob Stefani thrived on Gilbert and Sullivan singing in their operettas in Montreal. "I did all the big leads from Pinafore to Pirates of Penzance. When I moved to Waterdown in 1995 I joined Drury Lane Musical Productions in Burlington. I did Tevye in Fiddler and Emille in South Pacific.

"I come from a family with musical roots. My mom sang and my dad was conductor of a Swiss Brass Brand. Music has always been a driving force in my life.

"I love the applause, entertaining people. That's why I do Golden Age of Variety," Stefani says. "And you know, when your ego gets too big, there's always someone to knock it off."

At 67, Stefani is a bit of a youngster compared with others in the cast.

"Age is irrelevant," Auld chimes in. "You're as young as you feel. Just don't let yourself get old. That's the trick."

Auld says Over The Rainbow is her signature tune. She's always loved it. Stefani says he has no signature song.

"I just sing whatever I like at the moment," he shrugs. "This year I'm doing a Rod Stewart number. The show's called Hot & Hip, but that doesn't mean what's hip today. It means things that have been hot over the years. Know what I mean?"

Music has always been a big part of Dorothy Auld's life, too.

"I grew up in the Locke and Dundurn neighbourhood. I used to always go see the shows at the old Regent Theatre. People always knew the musical I'd just seen because I'd be singing and cartwheeling down the street."

Both Stefani and Auld love doing Golden Age of Variety. "It's so full of life and tanked up with energy," Stefani says.

Stefani's one brush with professional theatre came when Theatre Aquarius's Max Reimer asked him to play Jacob in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Stage West.

"I loved that," Stefani says. "The toughest part of the whole thing was driving back and forth to Mississauga every day.

"I sing for lots of different groups and seniors' residences, but I've never had a professional gig."

Auld and Stefani won't forget their big night of stardom at The Imperial Room last summer.

"It's a great memory," Auld says, "It was one night only. But the Golden Age Show just keeps going and going."

Gary Smith has written on theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years. He's been in love with the Golden Age of Variety for 13 of them.