Jack Gray has been in and around the local music scene for decades, playing in such bands as The Visionaires, The Detonators, Psycho Bible, Baa Baa Doo Bell and Eddies of the Wind.
Some of those groups have included a touch of theatrical flair, so it might not surprise many that Gray is working on a musical production. What might surprise some is the subject matter.
Gray is reviving "Shock Theater" -- an iconic 1970s Chattanooga television show -- in a new show called "Hauntsville" that will premiere Feb. 19 at the Chattanooga Choo Choo during Con-Nooga, a multigenre convention celebrating science fiction, horror and the paranormal.
"Shock Theater" was a WTVC-TV 9 Saturday night staple in the early 1970s that featured Tom Reynolds and Dan East as Dr. Shock and Dingbat. The two would introduce the night's horror film and entertain the audience with banter about local politics and gossip during commercial breaks.
Gray is co-writing the words and music to "Hauntsville." He is also directing and will star in the lead role. He handmade a new Dingbat, a puppet that will be voiced by Eric Scealf, who will also be portraying Dirge, a mute former opera singer.
Q: Can you talk about your latest project?
A: It's gonna be a great little show. I am tickled to be involved in the Shock Theater project because it is giving me a way to launch the Shock Theater Orchestra.
... It's really a musical. It's hard-rocking with some tender moments.
Q: Why did you want to do this?
A: Shock is just a fun character to portray and to design. We all look back on the old Shock Theater -- and I have so many great memories of Tommy Reynolds and Dan East -- (memories) of being scared to death and half digging it also. Of all the cool things that have happened in Chattanooga, that was in the Top 5 of cool things when I was growing up."
Q: How is it going to work? What will people see in the show at Con-Nooga.
A: It will be an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half. It will have a narrator and some sound effects and some mood music, and the band at some point will pick up their cue from the narration and perform a song.
What I've done is picked up the timeline from when Shock Theater went off the air to today. When it went off the air, Tommy moved to Huntsville, which is where we came up with "Hauntsville."
We generally trace his path and spook it up a little and use a little creative poetic license. We trace Nurse Goodbody and introduce Dirge, a new character who can't speak. He was once an opera singer.
Q: Who is in the band?
A: Terry Clouse, Jo Whitaker, Dare McCullough, Charlie Shelton and Eric Scealf.
Q: Any other projects or events on the horizon?
A: We are also going to introduce a movie on Feb. 18 at Con-Nooga in the more traditional Dr. Shock way. We are going to show [vampire flick] "Let Me In."
Name: Jack Gray.
Age: 50.
Hometown: Norfolk, Va.
Education: Red Bank High School, Middle Tennessee State University.
Vocation: Audio production at Audio Quill, musician.
Favorites
Movie: "Bucket of Blood."
Book: "The People's History of the United States."
Performers: Arcade Fire, Sunny Day Real Estate, RadioHead, Beatles, Kinks, Allman Brothers.
Song: "Strawberry Fields Forever."