So it has been a very long and bumpy road to the opening night of the musical "Love in the Time of Breast Cancer". Exactly a year ago, Maggie Suarez & I had this brilliant idea of doing a musical written by women, directed by women, acted by women...that would inspire women.
Little did we know the drama filled road ahead of us! From day one we experienced drama with past cast mates, to fighting for funding, to finding the perfect team of talented/committed artists, to finding a venue, to personal life drama...there were plenty of times we both wanted to say "forget it". But we didn't! We stuck through it all...And reminded each other, "Just wait until opening night!"
And that night finally came! Last night was our OPENING night. And as the cast came out for curtain call and the crowd came to their feet with applause and jubilation, all Maggie and I could do was laugh! From sheer exhaustion and appreciation that the long road to that moment was over!!! We finally accomplished what we set out to do. And it was beautiful.
This morning I found an article online about our little musical that could...in Asian Week. There were many times in my life that I've been proud of my accomplishments, but this moment is one of the few that makes me SUPER proud of what I can accomplish with just faith, support (from my team/community) & my dope ass hustlin' skills!
Read the article here:
Not the Usual Song and Dance: New musical raises breast cancer awareness in the APA community
SAN FRANCISCO — October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has come and gone, but everyone must continue to shine a spotlight on the disease to overcome it, especially Asian Americans. While the incidence of breast cancer among APAs is generally lower than among most other ethnic groups, recent studies have shown that they are also rising the fastest.
Breast cancer awareness is the goal of the new original musical, Love in the Time of Breast Cancer, presented by Pinays Maintaining Sisterhood Through Art in conjunction with the South of Market Health Center, playing through Nov. 8 at the Off Market Theater in San Francisco.
Written by Gayle Romasanta and directed by Fides Enriquez, the production is both funny and inspiring, and meant to encourage every woman to be the “author of her own story.”
The show follows the story of a breast cancer survivor and her journey to live life to the fullest in the aftermath of the devastating disease. It is filled with music and movement pieces, complete with dancers costumed in chemotherapy outfits along with both normal and cancer cells.
Nicole M. Villanueva, the show’s co-producer, emphasized its relevance to Asian American women.
“This musical is especially important because of the rising rates of Asian American women diagnosed with breast cancer today,” she says.
According to the American Cancer Society, cancer is the leading cause of death in the Asian American community, and in fact breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer mortality among Filipino American women.
“That is why 90 percent of our cast and crew is in fact Filipino American,” Villanueva said. “From our lead actress, our writer, our composer and our director, down to our light operator and box office volunteer, we are a group of talented Filipino American artists giving our time and talent to such a worthwhile cause.”
The music was composed by Brandon Bigelow with musical performances by Esperanza Catubig, Roberto Divina, Giovannie Espiritu, Michael Dorado and Stephanie Sampang.
Pinays Maintaining Sisterhood Through Art aims to inspire women to have the courage to break through belief patterns and societal conditioning that has traditionally left them unable to realize their full potential. The group uses creative productions in hopes of changing the biases against Filipina American women and creating an avenue for open dialogue among Filipinas.
Love in the Time of Breast Cancer, Nov. 7-8, 8 p.m. (special matinee performance Nov. 8 at
2 p.m.), Off Market Theater, 965 Mission St., San Francisco. Tickets are $20 ($15 for seniors/students) at Brownpapertickets.com.
1 comment:
It WAS a great show! I'm so proud of you!!
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