Hours before the Old West Dinner Adventure at Showtime Utah in Pleasant Grove was to start last Saturday night, tragedy struck.

Scott Shumway, leader of the house band, Mama's Boys, fell ill and needed emergency surgery. His five sons, who make up the rest of the band, scrambled to come up with a plan for that evening's show. There was talk of canceling the performance, but the reservations already in place made that impossible, said venue owner Joan Peterson.

"We already had about 70 people booked for the theater," she said. "The show had to go on."

With some frenzied rehearsal, the brothers came up with a pared-down version of the entertainment that would have some filling in for their father in various roles and that would ultimately be about 20 minutes shorter.

"We were pretty nervous," Spencer Shumway said. "We've never really done it without him. We've got some songs that he sings lead on."

As the seats slowly started filling that night, Peterson recognized a face in the crowd. Having made a reservation under a fake name, country superstar and recent Utah resident Collin Raye was there visiting with his daughter and granddaughter. Peterson approached Raye and asked if he'd be willing to step in and help the Shumway boys for the evening. Raye initially declined, Peterson said, saying he wasn't prepared and just wanted to spend time with his family.

But that didn't last long, Peterson said. Raye scarfed down his meal with all haste and approached her again.

"He came out about 10 minutes later and said, 'I'm in. Where do you want me?' " she said.

Mama's Boys were well underway with the three-set show before they learned there would be a change of plans, Spencer Shumway said.

"We didn't find out he was going to play until after our first set," he said.

Shumway waited until the end of the second set to reveal the surprise to the audience. When he invited the platinum-selling artist up on stage, the crowd erupted, remembered audience member Roger Green.

"They were quite stunned and shocked," he said. "It was a good reception for him."

Donning a borrowed hat and strumming a borrowed guitar, Raye played several of his better-known hits, including "Love, Me" and "Little Rock." On the request of his daughter, he played a cover of the Willie Nelson classic "Poncho and Lefty," Shumway said. Then the band got another surprise.

"We thought he was just coming up to play his own songs," Shumway said. "The plan was never to have him play with us."

Instead, Raye joined the band for another handful of songs at the end of the show, including "God Bless the USA."

"It was a blast," Shumway said.

From the pit, the pairing seemed a natural fit, Green said.

"It was just like they had been playing for a long time," he said.

The show concluded, as it traditionally does, with a rendition of "You Are My Sunshine." Shumway said Raye followed along, keeping pretty good track of Mama's Boys's unique arrangements throughout the evening.

Raye was not available for comment at the time of this article. His manager, Pat Melfi, said the publicity team preferred to downplay the impromptu show, fearing that it could be misconstrued because Raye was playing to a smaller audience than usual.

But all accounts appear to be to the contrary. The only one who regretted the evening was Scott Shumway, whose health problems forced him to sit it out.

"Heck yeah, he was bummed," Spencer said.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or at astryker@heraldextra.com.