August T.G.I.M. entertainer, singer-songwriter Gabrielle Macafee
Singer, songwriter and pianist Gabrielle Macafee provided the entertainment during intermission at Monday night’s T.G.I.M. screenings inside the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Unfortunately for Gabrielle, her music kinda faded into the background because there was so much else going on. There were friends to catch up with. Selfies to take. Birthday hugs, kisses and wishes to extend to Fort Myers Film Festival Co-Producer Melissa DeHaven. And, of course, everyone wanted to post-mortem the films they’d just seen over a drink and 
delicious piece of Capone’s pizza – especially the one that DeHaven’s friends shot in a swimming pool to commemorate the anniversary of Melissa’s birth.
Understandable, but too bad. News alert! Gabrielle MacAfee has a really good voice and a really big vocal range. “There were a couple of times she reminded me of Adele,” one audience member effused to another as her performance drew to a close. Now that’s high praise indeed.
Macafee comes from a rich musical tradition. Her dad plays drums. Her mom sings and plays piano. Gabrielle dabbled on the piano when she was little, but didn’t fully embrace the instrument until recently when it dawned on her one day that she could make music that no one else has ever sung and nobody else has ever heard before.
“I thought that was a really cool idea,” says Gabrielle, who writes her own music, drawing inspiration for from her experiences. One of her songs took two awards for a cappella music (Best Original Song by a Scholastic Group and Best High School Song) at the 2015 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA), which is sort of the a cappella equivalent of The Grammys. She wrote and recorded the song with the Cypress Lake High School 
Center for the Arts vocal group TAG. Titled Stay Gold, Macafee characterizes the song as an inspirational anthem about staying true to yourself. It is available on iTunes and Spotify.
Macafee is also involved in musical theatre and said her dream role would be to play Christine in Phantom of the Opera. In addition to the piano, Macafee plays guitar and the ukulele. She’s an FGCU voice student and she makes frequent musical appearances in the River District for Music Walk.
It is talent like Macafee’s that Eric Raddatz and Melissa DeHaven strive to deliver during each month’s T.G.I.M. And it’s just one more reason (seriously, do you really need more reasons?) for attending Intellectualization Mondays. If you missed out last Monday, don’t be a troll. There are six more TGIMs between now and next March’s film festival. See you on September 5.
August 3, 2016.
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About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.
Great Gabrielle your wonderfully. CONGRATULATIONS