Seven Singers Singing: A Musical Revue by Dave Bates returns to the stage

Press release from The Magnetic Theatre: 

The Magnetic Theatre hosts  Seven Singers Singing: A Musical Revue by Dave Bates, January 31 through February 1, 2020.  Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the The Magnetic Theatre in the River Arts District.

Seven Singers Singing is cabaret-style musical revue, featuring some of the area’s finest vocal talent. The songs, written by local musician Dave Bates, run the gamut from bouncy show tunes to soulful ballads.  Seven singers will also delight audiences with comic novelty songs and  uplifting inspirational numbers. If you’ve ever said you want to leave the theatre with a song to hum, this is the show for you.

Seven Singers Singing includes well known singers, Richard Blue, Mandy Bean, Alex Guazzo, Nana Hosmer Griffin, Tasha Pepi, Matt Wade and Hannah Williams.

“Songwriters who write for musical theatre accumulate ‘trunk songs’ or ‘orphan songs’, songs that were cut from shows, or which were written for projects that never came to fruition.” says songwriter Dave Bates. “I decided to take some of my trunk songs and supplement them with a few more songs written specifically for this show.  The result is a musical revue that is much easier to cast and to produce than a full-scale musical.  There’s a lot of flexibility as to who sings what.  As much as possible, I tried to let the singers select the songs that they felt best suited them.”

“I produced a version of this show six years ago, and it was a big hit with audiences.  For a year afterwards, barely a week went by when someone would encourage me to it again.  I resisted, because at heart I’m a songwriter, not a producer, and I know how much is involved in pulling a project like this together.”

Dave Bates has been pianist and musical director for numerous local theatre productions at North Buncombe High School, Hendersonville Community Theatre, Parkway Playhouse, Enka High School, and HART. Dave has taught courses on the history of Broadway musical theatre for the College of Seniors at OLLI, and for a Road Scholar program at Montreat College.

Richard Blue is very active in the community arts. Richard has entertained many on the stages of Hendersonville Community Theatre, Asheville Community Theatre, Blue Ridge Community College Theatre and Flat Rock Playhouse.  Richard was in the original Seven Singers Singing production.

Mandy Bean is an actor, singer, and director in the Asheville theatre scene. A native of Weaverville, she graduated from Appalachian State University with a B.S. in Theatre Education. She has been involved with various local theatres since 2005.

Nana Hosmer Griffin has performed in countless productions including at Asheville Community Theatre. She performed in the “pit chorus” for Terpsicorps’ The Scarlett Letter, and was featured in The Modern American Music Project’s production of David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion. She is the second soprano in Asheville’s preeminent vocal chamber ensemble Pastyme.

Alex Guazzo is a high school junior that has been acting and singing locally for the last 6 years. His latest project was playing Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie at Hendersonville Community Theatre.  Alex studies voice with Wendy Jones Studio and recently placed first in the Commercial Contemporary Music (CCM) category at the NCNATS competition in Raleigh.

Hannah Williams has been busy at the Parkway Playhouse in Dark of the Moon and in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. She has been directing The History of the Devil for CreepyCon through Brainchild Creative and Creative Theatre and performing It’s Just A Pill with the Mountain Area Health Education Center.

Tasha Pepi has been performing locally for over 5 years and delighting audiences from Parkway Playhouse to Flat Rock Playhouse, and on almost every stage in between. Most recently Tasha performed in It Didn’t Happen at Diana Wortham Theater.  You can see her next as Philia in A funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum at Hendersonville Community Theatre.

Matt Wade spent nearly two years singing on a Mississippi riverboat, was part of the first entertainment team at the Greenbrier Resort in WV, and has performed in several regional productions; as well as in theme parks, dinner theaters, and touring for three years with productions of Oklahoma! and The Producers.

Seven Singers Singing: A Musical Revue was conceived by Dave Bates who will also direct and serve as the Music Director,  Janice Guazzo will serve as Stage Manager.  Tickets are $20. For ticketing information, call the The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot Street, at 828-239-9250 or visit www.themagnetictheatre.org.