Is cancer something to sing about? Could it even be…funny?
For most of us, the answer would be no. But for the creative team behind Cancer! The Musical, currently in the middle of a six-week run at the Marlene Boll Theater inside the Boll Family YMCA, there’s humor and pathos around the effect cancer has on patients, their loved ones, their doctors, and the health care industry.
The show was the idea of Tom Donnellon, a cancer survivor himself and a surgeon with HOPE Surgical in Port Huron. He’s also the brother of Shawn Handlon, artistic director of Planet Ant Theater in Detroit. Together, the two wrote the book for the show. For the songs, they tapped the expertise of former Second City musical director John Edwartowski, who is the husband of Y Arts director Margaret Edwartowski. Together, they penned 15 original songs.
Cancer! The Musical tells the tale of a researcher who thinks he’s found the cure for cancer, a rival pharmaceutical executive who wants to steal it, and a surgeon who wants it to save the woman he loves. When the show was first mounted in 2006, reviews called it “hopeful and heartwarming.”
It’s been staged several times since, including at the prestigious New York City International Fringe Festival off-Broadway. This run at the Boll Theater will benefit Gilda’s Club of Metro Detroit, which is a cancer support community founded in honor of late comedienne and Detroit native Gilda Radner, who was part of Saturday Night Live’s original cast. Gilda’s Club provides support to people with cancer, their families (including children) and friends, free of charge.
The show is being produced by Planet Ant Theater. Handlon said the Y was a good space for them to remount the musical because it allowed them to have a more visible space downtown, as well as a roomier venue than Planet Ant’s tiny Hamtramck storefront. “We wanted to stage it again in a larger space, and we wanted to do a run to benefit Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit,” he says.
Tickets are available via Cancer! The Musical’s website, as well as through brownpapertickets.com. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. some Sunday afternoons through Dec. 9.