'The Big C' Stage Production Celebrates Cancer Survival

'The Big C' Stage Production Celebrates Cancer Survival

Artists and Entertainers Offer Hope and Understanding With Stories and Performances

LOS ANGELES, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Musicians, dancers, poets and other artists who have survived cancer, are living with the disease or have loved ones with cancer will perform in a unique cancer awareness program called "The Big C," beginning at noon, June 16 at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, 1300 N. Vermont Ave. Admission and parking are free.

"You could call it a 'cancer variety show,'" says "The Big C's" founder and organizer, Christian Jon Meoli, a director and actor who has appeared in several movies and numerous television shows. "After my mother died of cancer, I wanted to find a way so the disease could be talked about more, and where people wouldn't feel alone. I wanted a place where people could come and say this is what I've been through. It's the kind of place I wish my mother could have turned to."

Offering hope in facing the fear of cancer, The Big C performers will present artistic expressions of their personal stories in dealing with the disease. Among the performers will be:

-- Singer/songwriter Charlie Lustman, the former owner of the Silent Movie
Theater, and Phalana Tiller; they met during chemotherapy treatment and
will sing a number of Lustman's songs.
-- An' Nisa Mansour, a poet who will perform her story "7" about her
husband's battle with cancer shortly after they were married.
-- Renowned opera singer, performer and musician Christina Linhardt.
-- Lineage Dance Co., created by Hilary Thomas to raise money for
community cancer groups and make the arts accessible to all.
-- Janet Grey, an ovarian cancer survivor who will present her monologue
"Take My Ovaries ... Please!"

The program is aimed at cancer patients and cancer survivors and their friends and family members. Audience members will have a chance to talk with the performers.

"Every performer has been personally affected by cancer, either through experiencing it personally or through a loved one," said Dr. Ghassan Al-Jazayrly, chairman of Hollywood Presbyterian's cancer committee and "The Big C" master of ceremonies. "It's this passion that drives these artists to share their creative works in a way that we believe will offer hope and inspire healing. You come and you listen to these performances and you realize you are not alone in what you are going through."

There will also be information booths and cancer treatment professionals on hand to provide information and answer questions. A free, catered reception will precede the program.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, a 434-bed acute-care facility that has been serving the community since 1924, offers a wide range of cancer treatment services including one of the largest cancer screening programs for uninsured women in California.

For more information about "The Big C," call Eva Meyers at 323-913-4817.

For more information about the medical center, visit http://www.hollywoodpresbyterian.com/

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center

CONTACT: Eva Meyers, +1-323-913-4817

Web site:

http://www.hollywoodpresbyterian.com/

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