Singer David Gurland, who appeared at singer Brandon Cutrell and pianist Ray Fellman’s Broadway at the Beach shows at the Ice Palace and sang with the ensemble Uptown Express, passed away a bit more than half a year ago and, on August 16, performers gathered at the Palace to remember him and celebrate his life with songs and stories. Brandon and Ray hosted the evening and Ray played for most of those who performed. David’s last appearance at Broadway at the Beach had been exactly a year earlier.
Rob Maitner, who had been David’s lover, told a story about a fight that they had had in the Hamptons over a game of Monopoly and sang three songs that must have been cathartic: “I’m here to remind you of the mess you left behind when you went away,” with lines from “Losing My Mind,” from “Follies,” interpolated; “Ladies Who Lunch,” from “Company,” as he remembered scenes from musicals, such as “The Music Man” and “Chicago,” that they acted out at home together; and “Wig in the Box,” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” with audience participation.
Kenny Holcomb sang “Perfect Love,” because of his and David’s shared love of country music; “Big, Blonde and Beautiful,” from “Hairspray,” as “Big, Bald and Beautiful,” because David embraced singing songs that were written for women; and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” which David had recorded.
Daniel Lincoln, with whom David shared affinity for music from Disney musicals, sang “Me,” from “Beauty and the Beast.”
Gas Hole’s Karen Mack and, singing from the piano, Michael Holland, who had introduced Brandon to David, traversed a great deal of music in their set, including “Papa, Don’t Preach,” and “Material Girl,” because David had done a show of all Madonna songs; “Maniac;” Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again,” Karen’s solo; Cher’s “Half Breed,” Michael’s solo, because he had cast David as a Native American in a musical he wrote; “Karma Chameleon;” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Ray returned to the keyboard to assist Lisa Asher, who had played David’s mother, and Daniel’s as well, in musicals, in the tribute’s final songs: “It’s Just a Little Bitty Pissant Country Place,” from “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” a song she first sang the last time she saw David; Loretta Lynn song “Fist City,” which she had sung in a country-themed show that she did with David; and, appropriate for a salute to a creative person, “Starry, Starry Night,” written about Vincent van Gogh, and here introduced and concluded by Ray with phrases from Claude Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.”