Be Our Guest with Creators of Sell Division

Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

Bina Gehres, Director, received her master’s in education from Western Maryland College in Westminster, MD in 1972. She was a teacher of the deaf in Dayton, Ohio and after moving to Rhode Island, taught at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf for three years. Bina then went into the healthcare field in Rhode Island in 1979 and became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), where she worked in nursing homes, private duty healthcare agencies and doing home care etc. for 35 years. In 2007 she co-founded with composer and poet, Noreen Inglesi, a non-profit organization,

Notable Works Publication and Distribution Co., Inc., which is dedicated to raising community awareness through the arts for environmental and social issues. Since 2004 to the present time (2024) and at the age of 75, Bina has been instrumental in organizing 3 - 5 original musical and poetic events a year in libraries, churches and open spaces specifically following the Notable Works mission concerning homelessness, domestic violence and especially the recent variances in our Earth’s climate. Also, most recently Bina has collaborated with three others on a new musical called Sell Division: A Musical in Two Acts About Breaking the Chains of

Perception which will be presented in the form of a live stage reading at the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick, Rhode Island towards the end of 2024.

Noreen Inglesi, co-founder and Artist in Residence for Notable Works, taught music for the Town of North

Providence and the Community College of Rhode Island. Noreen was twice nominated for Teacher of the Year and received her Associates of Fine Arts Degree at the Community

College of Rhode Island and her undergraduate and master’s degree in music education and composition at the University of Rhode Island. She’s received much recognition for her music and poetry which has been featured both nationally and internationally by the Insight Quartet in Italy, the Dallas

Songwriter’s Association, the Contemporary Record Society, The Music Educators’ National Conference, the Culver Music Series in California and on the Women of Substance Music Podcast. Locally, Noreen’s music has been featured by The American Band, The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island, The State Ballet of Rhode Island, The Colonial Theatre, Verdant Vibes, Vibe of the Venue, the Westerly Band and WaterFire Providence. Noreen is also proud to be a member of Ocean State Poets and her poetry has been published

by Crosswinds Poetry Journal, Nobel House, the National Library of Poetry, Rhode Island Bards, Frequency Writers, The Poetry Loft and Notable Works Publication. Her music has been recorded and released with the Contemporary Record Society, Andreu Marc Publications, The Music Library, Platinum Records and Notable Works Publication and Distribution Co., Inc. And just recently, Noreen wrote the

musical “Sell Division” with three of her colleagues.

Marianne Quinn, B.A, has been not only an author on this project but has served as a consultant regarding social issues and the prison system. Her experience with diverse cultures has informed the content of the musical, lending validity to the characters. She is a retired social worker of 25 years from the State of Rhode Island.

Mary Zema is a career vocalist, singer/songwriter and guitarist. She began playing guitar at the age of seven and singing and writing songs at age ten. A native of Warwick, RI, Mary has played throughout New England. Her style is eclectic, pop, rock, ballads, electronic, etc. Her debut release, co-produced by Richard Bone, “Songs of Early Paradise” was in the top twenty on DMX radio New York. Mary recently

released my second album “Whistles, Dimes and Dragonflies” and a video of the same name. She taught music in the Fall River Public School system for 33 years. She is

presently performing with her band, “Throwback,” playing music from the 60s -90s.