Stage Right presents Pittsburgh-area playwright's new musical

Sometimes family is where you find it.

That’s one takeaway from “Local Singles,” a Stage Right musical production coming this weekend to The Lamp Theatre in Irwin.

With book, music and lyrics by Pine resident Nick Navari, “Local Singles” follows a group of young people looking for connections through a singles group at a Pittsburgh church.

It was first presented via livestream in March 2021 by the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh’s North Side. The project was funded through the theater’s Community Supported Art Performance Series.

“When Penny’s boyfriend makes a rushed exit out of her life after learning of her pregnancy, she turns to the group for answers — and leaves with something unexpected,” Navari told the Tribune-Review prior to the New Hazlett production. “I was intrigued by the idea of characters seeking romantic love, only instead to realize their happiness in finding familial love outside of the typical family unit.”

Navari pitched the play to Stage Right by email last fall.

“It was one of those things you glance over and think, ‘This is really nice, maybe it does or doesn’t fit with what we do here,’ ” said Stage Right executive director Christopher McAllister, who is directing the musical. “But something made me click on the link — fate, serendipity, whatever. Stage Right has always been a place where we try to support new works, local works and local artists, and ‘Local Singles’ fit the bill in a lot of ways.”

The musical’s message resonates with life in the post-pandemic world, he said.

“Jack has been the only member of the support group for about 30 months until Wes and Penny arrive,” McAllister said. “These five characters that are not related come together to find themselves as a family through the shared longing that has brought them into this singles group.

“Some of them are looking for a one-off kind of date, others are looking for something long-term, but they’re connected through the events that take place during the musical,” he added. “It’s a perfect and very poignant message in 2022 that family is not always who you are blood-related to.”

Courtesy of Rebecca Gruss

Playwright Nick Navari of Pine is the music director for the Stage Right production of his musical, “Local Singles.”

Katie Aiello is making her Stage Right debut in the role of Penny. Seton Hill University musical theater graduate Malcolm McGraw plays Jack. Wes is played by Gabe DeRose, a veteran of Pittsburgh-area theater groups including PICT Classic Theatre and Split Stage Productions.

The cast also includes Stage Right veterans Hank Fodor as Richard, Kim McLeod as Nancy and Anna Stewart as Wes’ ex-girlfriend.

“She has a name, but I don’t want to give it away because it’s part of the spoiler,” McAllister said.

Navari is serving as music director for the Stage Right production. Maria Hurtado is stage manager.

“This is officially the first time I’ve worked with having the person who’s created the entire show in the room,” McAllister said. “Usually there’s a little bit of guesswork on the part of the director on what’s said and how it’s said. There are no questions here because you can look over and say, ‘What did you mean by this?’

“It’s very cool, because Nick is coming into this with a very open mind,” he added. “He doesn’t necessarily want the same production that he did at the New Hazlett re-created, so he did a little script revision and added a couple of new songs just to make the show better, which is kind of cool.”

“Local Singles” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the theater at 222 Main St., Irwin. Tickets are $26, or $12 for students.

For reservations or more information, call 724-367-4000 or visit lamptheatre.org.