A musical tribute to Timmy Gray
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A portrait of Timmy Gray, with what turned out to be an exploding cigar at the end of the performance, was placed over the center of the stage. The stage was bordered on three sides by the names of shows from a lifetime of work by Gray. -
James Peck (left), David Powell and Pratik Motwani led off Act I with the “Goodfellows Song” from Blue Lake The Opera (2010). -
Emilia Sumelius (left), Sayda Trujillo and Laura Munoz performed “Loser” from La Bottega da Caffe (2001) featuring the lyric, “nothing like a loser to steal your heart away.” -
Emilia Sumelius (left), Sayda Trujillo and Laura Munoz ended “Loser” from La Bottega da Caffe (2001) with lyrics about how losing a man could make one feel better. -
Sayda Trujillo (left) and Jackie Dandeneau sang about the experiences of two women in their performance of “Correspondence Song” from In The Land of Grasshopper Song (2002). -
Michael Fields reprised his hilarious country western persona, Buddy the local radio host from “Blue Frigging Lake,” with song lyrics about “A Woman Who Will Listen To Me” from Wildcard (2002). In the end, the lyrics reveal even Buddy can become a modern, sensitive New Age kind of guy. -
Michael Fields as Buddy, the local radio host from Wildcard (2002). -
Stephen Buescher portrayed the long-suffering “Poor Bucky,” attacked by small stuffed animals (among other problems) from The Rag and Bone Shop (2000). -
Joan Schirle revisited her role as Jane and sang lyrics questioning “who’s to blame?” for the transformation of Blue Lake in “It Sucks To Be Jane” from Wildcard (2002). -
Stephen Buescher ended the portrayal of “Poor Bucky” from The Rag and Bone Shop (2000) (supported by Laura Munoz and Emilia Sumelius) with a car-wreck scene. -
James Peck sang “The Malady Song” and acted out his desparately seeking love role from Blue Lake The Opera (2010), highlighted by drinking his own urine from a cup that tasted, he said, “like pure kambucha.” -
Pratik Motwani as Ravi meets up with Joan Schirle as Mary Jane, “the duchess of dope, the diva of sativa and Queen of the Emerald Ball,” to sing “To Nuggy” from Mary Jane The Musical (2011). -
David Powell (left) and Laura Munoz (right) team up with Joan Schirle and Pratik Motwani in a Bollywood song and and dance version of “To Nuggy” from Mary Jane The Musical (2011). -
Act II opened with scenes of “Bits of Shakespeare Spoken,” including some familiar lines by these three witches (Laura Munoz (left), Emilia Sumelius and James Peck). -
A heart-rending and funny version of “She Never Has Time For Me” from Comedy of Errors (2013) was sung by Lynnie Horrigan and Pratik Motwani. -
The stage was bordered on three sides by the names of shows from a lifetime of work by Timmy Gray. In this photo Jackie Dandeneau introduces songs from The Land of Grasshopper Song (2002). -
A rap version of “Love You All” from Paradise Lost: The Clone of God, Fragment #1 (2001) was sung by David Powell and Stephen Buescher (who also signed the lyrics) and supported by Laura Munoz and Emilia Sumelius. -
Jackie Dandeneau sang a beautiful and moving lead in “Scotts Valley” from The Land of Grasshopper Song (2002) supported by Joan Schirle and Barb Culbertson. -
David Powell sang a powerful and robust “Aria” from Blue Lake The Opera (2010). -
Emilia Sumelius (left), Stephen Buescher and Laura Munoz sang and danced their way through “Forever And A Day” from The Rag and Bone Shop (2000). -
Emelia Sumelius (left), Stephen Buescher and Laura Munoz ended on the floor at the close of their performance of “Forever And A Day” from The Rag and Bone Shop (2000). -
Joyce Hough accompanied Timmy Gray to his seat prior to Friday’s performance. They have performed together over many years in various bands, most recently in Home Cookin’. -
Michael Fields welcomed Timmy Gray to his special seat prior to Friday’s performance. -
Timmy Gray greeted friends in the audience prior to Friday’s performance. -
The cast, supported by special guests the Blue Lake Love Choir, closed with “The Finale of Opera” from Blue Lake The Opera (2010) that included a the lyric, “Love is a wild bear.” They turned to find the bear appearing above them high above off stage. Special guests next weekend include Lyndsey Battle on Friday and Joyce Hough and Fred Neighbor on Saturday. -
When the spotlight turned to where Timmy Gray was sitting in the audience after Friday’s performance, Michael Fields closed the evening by declaring Gray “A Knight of Musicality” and presented him with a plaque that recognized Gray as “Composer Extraordinaire.”