BEST OF THE MAGNIFICENT 7 SERIES 1 & 2

Music and comedy collide with Centrestage at the Sneddon!

In the final instalment of the trilogy of Centrestage shows, the Best of the Magnificent 7 series 1 and 2 take to the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre stage from April 13 to 18.

Promising an evening of belly-laughs and supreme musicianship, the talented Centrestage All-Star Band will reinvent themselves eight times during the evening to take on the differing musical styles and personas of the greatest bands of our time - in search of the one band to rule them all.

Segments from the Magnificent 7 1, which was seen by over 100,000 people in the Eastern Cape and Durban, include a frenetic Wayne Kallis-fronted sing-along Credence Clearwater Revival segment, Gino Fabbri as Mick Jagger in The Rolling Stones and the majestic harmonies of Queen. Musical luminaries featured from The Magnificent 7 2 include Fleetwood Mac with their show-stopping rendition of Tusk, the incredible Melvyn Matthews up front in the Bob Marley and Juluka sequences, while the ever popular U2 takes pride of place once again with Kallis showing his versatility and vocal prowess as frontman Bono.

Taking the helm is comedian Gino Fabbri, who follows on the role played by Aaron McIlroy between band segments as he introduces the body-snatching interplanetary psychologist celebrity William Shatner 3rd, son of William Shatner 2nd, who continues his father’s musical studies by borrowing his victims for the pursuit of the ground-breaking scientific psychological study of the effect that this music has on our modern society.

The show opens with a rocking Roxette segment – a new edition to the show by the band which always ‘bubbled under’ in the magnificent selection stakes - which sees the Centrestage band performing popular hits such as The Look, Joyride, Dressed for Success and How Do You You Do. The show songbook also includes popular favourites such as CRR’s Bad Moon Rising and Have You Ever Seen the Rain, The Rolling Stone’s Satisfaction and Jumping Jack Flash, Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Somebody to Love, Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop and Go Your Own Way, Bob Marley’s No Women No Cry and Buffalo Soldier, Juluka’s Great Heart and Scatterlings of Africa and U2’s Pride and Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

“By returning to the exact sounds and arrangements of the original songs, the created effect is very close to what one would experience if you were to see these bands live on stage today,” says show creator Gary Hemmings. Amongst his unsuspecting and generally unwilling victims introduced by Fabbri in the guise of Big Willy Shatner are characters who have appeared in Fabbri’s hit comedy show Toast, along with some newer additions from his latest outing Nuts.

The formula of an extremely talented, experienced, confident, hard-working band which puts an entertainment spin on the music while constantly reinventing its sound and look, combined with a careful selection of best loved songs, wrapped in the side-splitting, self-deprecating and audience interactive Fabbri humour, makes for an unbeatable evening’s entertainment.

The Centrestage All-Star Band consists of Donovan Hattingh (lead guitar and musical director), Wayne Kallis (lead guitar and vocals), Mike McAuley (bass), Gino Fabbri (drums), Wilton Paulson (drums and percussion), Khanya Matomela (keyboards) , Donna Africa (vocals), Lani Botha (vocals) and Melvyn Matthews (vocals). This show also sees Durbanite Tim Pullen joining the band on second keyboard.

The Port Elizabeth based production company, Centrestage, has also staged The Crazy 80’s and The Magnificent 70’s at the Sneddon Theatre within the last month. Tickets for the Best of Magnificent 7 1 and 2 can be purchased through Computicket on 083 915 8000.