FLASHBACK :: The Grand 1894 Opera House : I always enjoyed checking out Tuna Texas each year and all of the other productions at the old opera house. My good friend, Boston Bill was the lighting engineer at the opera house and lived in one of the apartments upstairs above it. It was just as fabulous an apartment as Bill was phenomenal. He had joined the circus when he was young Barnum & Baileys, if I remember correctly and ended up here in Galveston, Texas. Listening to him tell stories was like listening to Morgan Freeman or James Earle Jones... you were captivated to the very end. We became the best of friends and Bill would regularly provide me with complimentary tickets to the shows. Such fun... he would come tap me on the shoulder as soon as the lights would come up for intermission and race me upstairs to his apartment above the opera house where we would sit and chat about our thoughts of the show while we sat back and smoked his infamous brass pipe of neverending herbal bliss. Buzzed... we would then race back down to my seat and he to the lighting booth. I would finish watching the show and Bill would once again come grab me and take me backstage to meet all the wonderfully talented people involved and starring in the shows. I got to meet and socialize with many of the famous people from the shows. One of the greatest moments for me was meeting and hanging out with one of my favorite actor/comedians, Bill Cosby. Such the good times... still one of the funniest people Ive had the fortunate pleasure of meeting to this day! Im so grateful for the friendship he and I shared until his passing some years ago. To this day I think of him and his stories often and smile. A true friend to the end. In his passing I was left a rather large assortment of old personal photos... historical photos many of them from things such as, gay movements dating back to the 50s, 60s and 70s... as well as historical Galveston photos from landmarks and events long gone or lost to the islands history of storms. It is my hope to one day share his memories and photos with Galvestons Historical Society and the world! Peace be with you my friend... Loving and Remembering You Always!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:03:33 +0000
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