Peter Brancucci knows what he has to do. When Lucille Porto finishes her “Seinfeld” monologue, the retired doctor from Rye Brook stands up, walks forward and belts out Ricky Martin’s “La Vida Loca.”

But somewhere between the first lines and the start of the second chorus — when his female castmates join him — his focus flags and the vida is less than loca.

That’s when director Camille Linen does what she’s done for 27 years at the Port Chester Council for the Arts: Seeing an actor in need of direction, she directs.

“Let the universe happen!” she says breezily. “You’re gonna get it!”

Linen always wants more energy from the cast of “Comedy Through the Ages” — an hour-long chronicle of music and laughs to be presented at Rye Brook’s Crawford Park Mansion on Sunday at 3 p.m. When she asks for it, the cast delivers, accompanied by the affable Donna Cribari, Linen’s sister, at the piano.

Brancucci helped start the Rye Brook Senior Center’s Theater Workshop five years ago — at the urging of center director Jean Gesoff — and has written plays for the group, including a comedy, “Side Effects,” that drew on his medical career. A merry band of ten seniors gathers on Thursdays to rehearse and visit.

Clem Patafio has discovered what a lifetime of work didn’t allow: “I had to wait until I was into my 70s until I got into acting,” he says.

“He’s very creative,” offers the ever-smiling Belle Harris.

Bernice Marino is creative, too, but sometimes forgets the lyrics to “Comedy Tonight,” one of the show’s opening numbers. So she wrote the lyrics on her hand.

“I did it in high school,” she giggles. “I can do it now.”

For details on “Comedy Through the Ages,” call 914-939-3183.

Photos by Seth Harrison/The Journal News: Bernice Martino and Peter Brancucci sings along during a rehearsal of “Comedy Through the Ages” at the Anthony J. Posillipo Community Center in Rye Brook Nov. 13, 2008. The readers theater production is made up of seniors from Port Chester and Rye Brook, and is sponsored by the Port Chester Council for the Arts.

The cast: Peter Brancucci, Belle Harris, Bernice Marino, Sonny Orlovitz, Gloria Orzo, Clem Patafio, Anita Penchina, Lucille Porto, Mary Simons and Aramita Vaccaro. Directed by Camille Linen. Musical direction by Donna Cribari.