Flat Rock – Flat Rock Playhouse’s all-star rock band gets a featured guest in Lauren Wright, to lead off the FRP season on Feb. 22-25 with Mixtape: The Best of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
Violinist and singer Wright starred in Autumn at the Opry and with Nat Zegree in Mozart to Pop Chart, Vol. 2. Wright plays a smooth violin on The Beatle’s solemn “She’s Leaving Home.” She lists her vocal range as soprano/”high belt.” She toured nationally in the recent hit musical Mamma Mia! Wright was a “Flying Violinist/Vocalist” In Cirque Musica.
Wright joins seasoned guitarist-vocalists Dustin Brayley, Ryan Dunn, Eric Anthony and Ryan Guerra; and percussionist Paul Babelay. They have played hits of The Beatles, The Eagles, The Allman Brothers, Tom Petty, Queen, James Taylor, and many others in Music on the Rock shows.
In the Sixties-Eighties concert, they will play hits of rock bands The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Seger, Jefferson Airplane; and the Allman Brothers Band; also pop classics of Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Otis Redding, Toto, and The Outfield. The show focuses on a three-decade classic era of pop and rock, rather than one band as in many Music on the Rock® shows.
These usual band members are prolific, with showmanship as a bonus. They are very experienced outside of FRP, performing in concerts and hit musicals.
For instance, energetic Brayley is a Trans-Siberian Orchestra guitarist and singer. He was on Broadway in Rocktopia with rock stars Robin Zander of Cheap Trick and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider. Brayley starred in national tours of Saturday Night Fever, Miss Saigon, and Rent. He has acted in films and television.
Guerra was Music on the Rock® musical director for several shows. He’s sung George Harrison tunes at FRP. Guerra first acted at FRP in 2010. He has a recurring musical gig on a steamboat based in Oregon.
Burly, bearded Dunn is a veteran of FRP musicals and concerts. He and his wife Annalyse McCoy hosted a series called The Valley Hour during the pandemic, featuring Grammy-winning artists in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Anthony has a raspy voice similar to that of Don Henley and Bryan Adams. The northern California native performs at the ski resort in Park City, Utah. His cover list of more than 500 hits includes from Eric Clapton and John Mayer and newer artists such as Bruno Mars, John Legend, and Ed Sheeran. He met the band’s other fellows in college.
Drummer Babelay is the longest-tenured (30 years) with FRP, of these band members. He conducts the Biltmore Community Orchestra. Babelay once jammed on stage with Chaka Khan. He has taught songwriting workshops for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Upcoming Shows
The next four playhouse productions are also concerts on FRP’s Leiman Main Stage: The Music of John Denver (March 8-9), a special guest trio doing Uptown: The Music of Motown (March 21-24), Sail On: The Music of the Beach Boys (April 4-6), and Country Gold: Country Music’s Greatest Hits with Blake Ellege (April 25-27).
After that are seven plays: the musical Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (May 10-June 1), intense drama The Shawshank Redemption (June 14-30), longtime popular musical Cabaret (July 12-Aug. 3), comedy Boeing-Boeing (Aug. 9-25), musical Jesus Christ Superstar (Sept. 5-22), close-up Blackbox drama The Mountaintop by Katori Hall (Oct. 4-13), musical Cats (Oct. 25-Nov. 10), Mozart to Pop Chart, Vol. 3: The History of Rock and Roll with Nat Zegree (Nov. 14-17), and A Flat Rock Playhouse Christmas (Nov. 29-Dec. 21).
Tickets are $65, $55 or $45 per adult, varying by section, or $25 per youth 17 or younger. To purchase tickets to FRP shows, call (829) 693-0731 or (faster yet) check online at flatrockplayhouse.org.