Richard Cray
Encyclopedia
Richard Cray is an American
actor
and singer.
Richard began singing when he was nine years old. Possessing a true boy soprano
voice, he was in great demand appearing in more than twenty plays, concerts and musicals before the age of twelve, including a co-star role as "Patrick Dennis
" with Broadway
actress Denise Lor
in "Mame".
A native of Kinston
, North Carolina
, Richard was chosen as a teenager to participate in a unique educational program called The "Governor's School of North Carolina
". This program was the first of its kind for gifted students in the United States. Every year students compete for one of the precious slots in their artistic or academic field.
Richard received his formal education at North Carolina School of the Arts
and Indiana University School of Music
where he studied voice with Walter Cassel, a twenty-five year veteran of the Metropolitan Opera
. Richard also studied vocal jazz styles with Eileen Farrell
, and coached lieder with John Wustman. Opera roles performed include Count Almaviva in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro
" Papageno in Mozart's "The Magic Flute
", and Escamillo in Bizet's "Carmen
".
After formal schooling Richard spent a year traveling around the world as a solo artist aboard The Royal Viking Star. Ports of call included; Australia
, New Zealand
, Bora Bora
, Moorea
, Singapore
, Bangkok
, Bali
, Hong Kong
, Shanghai
, Beijing
, Japan
, Hawaii
, Canada
, Alaska
and South America
.
Following his lifelong friend and mentor Keith Keen to New York City
, Richard made his Broadway
debut (cast by writer Rupert Holmes
and director Wilford Leach
) in the New York Shakespeare Festival
's Tony Award
winning production of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood
" at the Imperial Theatre where he was placed into the show by Rob Marshall
, assistant to show choreographer Graciela Daniele
. Soon after, Richard starred off-Broadway, opposite George Hearn
and Rob Morrow
in the musical version of Chaim Potok
's celebrated novel "The Chosen".
Other credits include: "Windy City" at the Paper Mill Playhouse
, a new musical workshop recording for Sheldon Harnick
, and appearing as Billy Bigelow (opposite Rebecca Luker
as "Julie) in the Lake George Opera Festival production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel
". In New York, Richard studied acting at HB Studios, also with John Hirsch
and Sanford Meisner
. Richard's NYC vocal coach was Andrew Cooke. During his first year in New York, Richard performed with "Harbor Lights" a vocal quartet that opened for headliners in the Catskills.
A solo appearance with the San Diego Symphony
celebrating the 100th birthday of Cole Porter
(Jack Everly
Conductor) and a guest appearance at the Crystal Cathedral
brought Richard to the West Coast, where he performed in the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
's musical recording for the classic science fiction movie "Thing's to Come".
In the summer of 1993, Richard was asked to perform in The "Tomorrows Realities Gallery" at the annual SIGGRAPH
convention held in Anaheim, CA. as “Dynamation Man” giving voice and movement to a live, animated character. This event turned out to be the first live, operatic performance in digital real-time computer generated animation using a full upper-body Waldo and data glove
with a single performing vocal artist interfaced with a character in total control. This project led Richard to perform and direct "A Musical Performance Animation" with composer Steven Bowen, an accomplished musician and arranger for the creation of a seven-minute singing musical story giving life to three computer generated characters; Pirate King, Reggae Man and the Sunny Boy, featured on CNN
and in Computer Graphics World Magazine.
Richard founded the "Performance Animation Society" a special interest group catering to the needs of performing and creative professionals involved with the emerging technology of performance capture
. He developed and created dynamic and ongoing innovative and entertaining projects with what he calls "the future of performing artists" through this innovative forum.
In May, 2003, Richard starred in the title role of the Maui
Civic Light Opera’s production of Maury Yeston's Phantom
opposite Debra Lynn as Christine at the Maui Art's & Cultural Center Castle Theatre.
Richard most recently performed in the Long Leaf Opera Company (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) production of "Kismet
". as the "Wazir".
Richard currently resides in Long Beach, CA where he teaches voice privately.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and singer.
Richard began singing when he was nine years old. Possessing a true boy soprano
Boy soprano
A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...
voice, he was in great demand appearing in more than twenty plays, concerts and musicals before the age of twelve, including a co-star role as "Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century. In chronological vignettes "Patrick" recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis...
" with Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actress Denise Lor
Denise Lor
Denise Lor is an American popular singer and actress.She was a featured artist on Garry Moore's television show.Ms. Lor was married to and subsequently divorced from TV director and singer Jay Martin, with whom she had sons, Ron and Dennis. They had met when she was singing on The Garry Moore...
in "Mame".
A native of Kinston
Kinston, North Carolina
Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,688 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 22,360 in 2008. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791 . Kinston is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Richard was chosen as a teenager to participate in a unique educational program called The "Governor's School of North Carolina
Governor's School of North Carolina
The Governor's School of North Carolina is a publicly funded six-week residential summer program for gifted high school students in the state of North Carolina....
". This program was the first of its kind for gifted students in the United States. Every year students compete for one of the precious slots in their artistic or academic field.
Richard received his formal education at North Carolina School of the Arts
North Carolina School of the Arts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...
and Indiana University School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
where he studied voice with Walter Cassel, a twenty-five year veteran of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. Richard also studied vocal jazz styles with Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60 year long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances...
, and coached lieder with John Wustman. Opera roles performed include Count Almaviva in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
" Papageno in Mozart's "The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
", and Escamillo in Bizet's "Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
".
After formal schooling Richard spent a year traveling around the world as a solo artist aboard The Royal Viking Star. Ports of call included; Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² in total, and of the atoll of Tupai , located north of Bora Bora...
, Moorea
Moorea
Moʻorea is a high island in French Polynesia, part of the Society Islands, 17 km northwest of Tahiti. Its position is . Moʻorea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
Following his lifelong friend and mentor Keith Keen to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Richard made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut (cast by writer Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes is an American-British composer, singer-songwriter, musician and author of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape " and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980...
and director Wilford Leach
Wilford Leach
Carson Wilford Leach was an American theatre director, set designer, film director, screenwriter, and college professor.-Biography:...
) in the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
's Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winning production of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical)
Drood is a musical based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It is written by Rupert Holmes, and was the first Broadway musical with multiple endings . Holmes received Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score...
" at the Imperial Theatre where he was placed into the show by Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall is an American theater director, film director and choreographer. He is a six-time Tony Award nominee, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe nominee and four-time Emmy winner whose most noted work is the 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture winner Chicago.-Life and career:Marshall was...
, assistant to show choreographer Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...
. Soon after, Richard starred off-Broadway, opposite George Hearn
George Hearn
George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...
and Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow
Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
in the musical version of Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen, a 1967 novel which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.-Biography :Herman Harold Potok was born in The Bronx, New York City, to...
's celebrated novel "The Chosen".
Other credits include: "Windy City" at the Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theatre with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey, less than 25 miles from Manhattan. Due to its location, it can draw from the pool of actors who live in New York City. Its location, as well as its focus on producing large-scale shows, makes...
, a new musical workshop recording for Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
, and appearing as Billy Bigelow (opposite Rebecca Luker
Rebecca Luker
Rebecca Luker is an American musical theatre actress and soprano who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions.-Life and career:...
as "Julie) in the Lake George Opera Festival production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
". In New York, Richard studied acting at HB Studios, also with John Hirsch
John Hirsch
John Stephen Hirsch, OC was an Hungarian-Canadian theater director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary, and escaped Hungary during World War Two as a refugee orphan...
and Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner , also known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed a form of Method acting that is now known as the Meisner technique....
. Richard's NYC vocal coach was Andrew Cooke. During his first year in New York, Richard performed with "Harbor Lights" a vocal quartet that opened for headliners in the Catskills.
A solo appearance with the San Diego Symphony
San Diego Symphony
The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. On 6 December 1910, it gave its first concert as the San Diego Civic Orchestra.Currently, the Symphony performs over 100 concerts each season...
celebrating the 100th birthday of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
(Jack Everly
Jack Everly
Jack Everly is an American conductor and music arranger who serves as Principal Pops Conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra as well as Music Director for the Symphonic Pops Consortium.Born...
Conductor) and a guest appearance at the Crystal Cathedral
Crystal Cathedral
The Crystal Cathedral is a Protestant Christian church building in the city of Garden Grove, in Orange County, California, United States. It is the headquarters and principal place of worship for Crystal Cathedral Ministries, a church founded in 1955 by Robert H. Schuller and affiliated with the...
brought Richard to the West Coast, where he performed in the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is a symphony orchestra which is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl....
's musical recording for the classic science fiction movie "Thing's to Come".
In the summer of 1993, Richard was asked to perform in The "Tomorrows Realities Gallery" at the annual SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
convention held in Anaheim, CA. as “Dynamation Man” giving voice and movement to a live, animated character. This event turned out to be the first live, operatic performance in digital real-time computer generated animation using a full upper-body Waldo and data glove
Wired glove
A wired glove is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove.Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such as a magnetic tracking device or inertial tracking device, is attached to capture the global...
with a single performing vocal artist interfaced with a character in total control. This project led Richard to perform and direct "A Musical Performance Animation" with composer Steven Bowen, an accomplished musician and arranger for the creation of a seven-minute singing musical story giving life to three computer generated characters; Pirate King, Reggae Man and the Sunny Boy, featured on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and in Computer Graphics World Magazine.
Richard founded the "Performance Animation Society" a special interest group catering to the needs of performing and creative professionals involved with the emerging technology of performance capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
. He developed and created dynamic and ongoing innovative and entertaining projects with what he calls "the future of performing artists" through this innovative forum.
In May, 2003, Richard starred in the title role of the Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
Civic Light Opera’s production of Maury Yeston's Phantom
Phantom (musical)
Phantom is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas in 1991....
opposite Debra Lynn as Christine at the Maui Art's & Cultural Center Castle Theatre.
Richard most recently performed in the Long Leaf Opera Company (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) production of "Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
". as the "Wazir".
Richard currently resides in Long Beach, CA where he teaches voice privately.
External links
- Richard Cray Official Website
- How 'The Chosen' Became a Musical., The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, January 3, 1988