Yosemite Courtyard Theatre Winds Up its Season by Kay Crow
Finishing a Season with The Unauthorized Rolling Stones Tribute and Jack Foltyn
Story and photo by Kay Crow
The Yosemite Courtyard Theatre, located in the Groveland Hotel, ended its 2009 summer season with The Unauthorized Rolling Stones tribute on Labor Day weekend.
Friday evening the Unauthorized Rolling Stones performed an incredible show featuring Rudy Colombini as Mick Jagger. The group, formed by Colombini 10 years ago, portrays Dave Garcia as Keith Richards, J Lory as Ron Wood (Woody), Craig Manrique as Charlie Watts (Hardly Charlie), and Kenny Crampton as Bill Wyman.
Colombini and his group played to a full house of young adults mixed with baby boomers and some in the audience were older than that! The band was tight musically, synched perfectly and choreographed to make one think they were actually watching the Stones perform. The energy level was very high and by the end of the evening most seats were empty as the crowd was dancing around the courtyard. The Unauthorized Rolling Stones, currently based in San Francisco, opened for Los Lobos in Orlando, Florida in April at the Hard Rock Live and have recently toured Japan. Songs performed included Rolling Stone hits: “Little Red Rooster“ “Brown Sugar“, “Under My Thumb” along with Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” and the Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” which leads into “Can’t Get Next To You“. The group closed with “Satisfaction” for their grand finale, and everyone was rockin’ and rollin’ as they left.
The following Friday, September 11, Jack Foltyn officially closed the Theatre with his Elvis Tribute. When Jack sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” couples in the audience got up and swayed to the beautifully sung ballad. Other Elvis songs that Foltyn performed included: “Love Me Tender” and “That’s All Right, Mama“. A major highlight of the evening was when Jack sang a special 9/11 tribute that included “God Bless America” and asked the audience to join in. He gave it all he had, typical Foltyn style. More than that, Foltyn is expanding his repertoire. Not only can he sing and move like “THE KING”, his appearance is softened and at the end of this show, he changed into his jeans and white shirt and sang other artists’ songs, like an Otis Redding favorite, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire”, Little Richard’s 1955 hit “Tutti Frutti”, and the Beatles “Get Back”. This new side of Foltyn that many have not seen before is very refreshing and invigorating. Jack Foltyn is more than an Elvis tribute; he is a true performer and entertainer!
A future special event on Friday, November 13th is the Southern Tuolumne County Historical Society (STCHS) benefit with Pat Conert portraying Mark Twain in a one-man show. This benefit includes a period menu from the mid -1800s representing food of that period. For more information call the Groveland Hotel at 962-4000.
