Rear, from left to right: Betty (Mom), Laurel, Dennis, Rick and Richard (Dad).

The little fellow in the front, paying no attention to the musical goings on, is me (Tim).

Someone, don’t know who, has written “Wagnerian Camera Mugger” on the photo, apparently in reference to me.

The photo was taken c. summer, 1961, in our home.

I suspect it is a photo taken by our local newspaper. My mother ran an amateur Broadway troupe called “The Coronaires” (we lived in Corona, CA). I grew up around productions of “South Pacific,” “The Music Man,” “Pajama Game,” “Oklahoma!” and many others.

No, we didn’t stand around singing like this, not to my recollection. But all of us, at one time or another, appeared in my mother’s musical productions, in parts big and small. My father once sang the role of Emile de Becque in “South Pacific.” My mother always conducted the orchestra.

Mom and Dad had different musical tastes. You will see this in the photo. Behind my father on the floor is a “Party Along with Mitch [Miller]” record — that’s his. On the mantle is a recording of “La Traviata” — that’s Mom’s.

Dad is wearing a bow tie. He got into the habit in medical school, when he found his long ties dangled inside the cadavers they were studying.

Above the piano is a painting by one of my aunts, I believe. The piano is a Chickering, and we still have it.

Click on the photo to see a larger view.

classical music

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July 22, 2011

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