Ajijic resident Sydney Gay calls herself a storyteller, comedian musician and artist.
Her musical interests began in New York City when, as the wife of a producer, she worked as a gofer behind the scenes at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House and Juilliard School of Music. While also raising children, she and her husband had the exciting job of bringing together musical professionals with prodigies. Each summer they would travel to Europe and to find young, talented, unknown musicians, bring them to New York, and connect them to the philharmonic orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia and New York.
Between 1965-1977, their company, Hoffman Schutz Productions, put on huge music festivals in New York, and they were at the top of their field for a number of years. One of their main successes was creating the Mozart Festival, which included multimedia – a revolutionary concept at the time. Creating the first festival was an experiment to see if their company could help get New York’s Lincoln Center out of debt. They successfully put on 26 concerts in a row during August, and every concert sold out. Not only did they succeed in getting Lincoln Center out of debt, but their company became famous as a result. Before long, concert halls across the nation adopted the Mozart Festival idea.
Gay became interested in music later in life, building on the love and knowledge from her production days. She felt a calling in her 40s, and began studying voice with opera teachers. One teacher told her that “the secret of all life can be found in the tone of your voice.” When Gay asked her what that meant, the teacher replied, “You’ll find out.” At age 74, Gay has been exploring that idea for all these years, and her shows have come out of that search.
During her travels, Gay saw how people handled problems differently, but also saw the similarities. She began looking at all the problems in the world, and found that she was deeply touched by war and by the behavior of human beings that create these problems. She followed the advice of another voice teacher who said, “If you have something to say, put it into music.” Thus, her stage acts were born.
Gay’s first concert took place in 1981 at New York’s Bob Hope Theater, which is inside the city’s large military hospital. She was allowed to put on a free concert for patients and their families. At the performance, people were lined up along the walls – veterans spanning from World War I to Vietnam. Gay performed parlando style – a singing/talking style – and her show was called Sydney Gay & The All Stars. She didn’t use a script that someone else had written; instead she used stories and experiences of the people she had interviewed during her travels. The show’s pace was quick – things flowed into one another – and controversial, as she refused to hold back. Gay explains that music takes her out of life’s trauma but allows her to address the trauma with comedy. She has found that performing allows her to “sanely balance reactions to unsolved problems and open the audience’s eyes to things they hadn’t thought about before.”
Gay arrived in Ajijic in 2005 with her second husband Harry who, having suffered a brain stroke, needed to be in a full care nursing facility. Gay found a charming casita minutes from the nursing care facility. Though her husband has since died, Gay continues to live in the same casita, filled with colorful, whimsical examples of both her and her husband’s art.
Some years ago, Gay performed her show at the Red Piano, a professional cabaret in Ajijic that closed last year. All the shows were fundraisers and she was able to raise money to purchase bicycles for children who needed them, for families with handicapped children, and for the Feria Maestros del Arte – a yearly festival that helps preserve original art of the Mexican people. As for future performances, the Red Piano’s owner is still in contact with Gay and talking to a theater owner in Puerto Vallarta about hosting more of her shows.
Nowadays, Gay opens up her casita to both students and teachers. One of her favorite activities is hosting a regular teacher’s circle, where they view and discuss documentary films. Also, on occasion, she coaches adult Mexican students with their English at no charge.
When asked what she aspires to, Gay says, “What am I supposed to do to make this world a better place? That is really the theme of my shows. I put them to music because that’s the only thing left that has any importance. If I’m going to affect you, I want to give you everything that I’ve ever learned in this life that makes it wonderful. That’s my aspiration at 74.”
Sidney Gay performs “A Girl Named Gay” at La Bodega restaurant in Ajijic Thursday, June 30, 5 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. followed by the music of Sergio Casas.The show is in support of Ajijic’s gay community.