Yesterday, my son Noah asked me if I went to school with anyone famous. Rodney Gilfry came to mind immediately. He was a year or two behind me at Claremont High School. Here he is singing a duet with Liliana Nikiteanu in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”:
I showed the clip to Noah. After watching it for 15 seconds, he asked, “people pay to hear that?”
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According to an interview with Rod, he discovered his love for the stage after performing the leading role in a Claremont High production of “Li’l Abner.”
I saw that production, not that you’d normally have found me in the audience at a high school musical. But a bunch of my water polo buddies had non-speaking roles — if I recall correctly, they walked on and off the stage in old-fashioned bathing suits and that was pretty much it. Not surprisingly, their opera careers haven’t kept up with Rod’s.
I have run into Rod at least once since high school. It was at the LA County Music Center after the premiere of “Oklahoma!” He played the starring role. I was stationed on a bale of hay playing my fiddle during the reception afterwards. I’ve tried to locate a photo of myself on hay, but no luck. Best I can do right now is Cruzatte at Lake Tahoe. You’ll just have to imagine the hay:
Other famous Claremonters? Well, there’s Martin Hewitt, best known for playing opposite Brooke Shields in “Endless Love.” I apologize in advance to anyone I’ve missed.
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