Tragedy to Triumph: Stories of Hope returns to the Palace Theater

Press release

TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH: STORIES OF HOPE
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026, 12:00 PM PALACE THEATER

Waterbury, CT – After a successful and sold-out inaugural event in March 2025, Tragedy to Triumph: Stories of Hope returns to the Palace Theater on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM, bringing together powerful voices who have transformed profound personal loss into resilience, purpose, and hope.

Moderated by WSHU host, author and actress Randye Kaye, this luncheon event features heartfelt stories from Cindy Eastman, Donna Finneran, Dan Lowry, Matt Monagan, and Thai Vo, each sharing their journey of overcoming life-altering tragedy and finding meaning on the other side.
Tragedy to Triumph is part of The CommUNITY Spotlight Series, grant-funded by the Connecticut Community Foundation, and made possible through the additional support of Mary Ellen & Tim Rourke, Thomaston Savings Bank, and Bluebird Counseling.
Tickets for this luncheon event are $25. To purchase tickets, please call the Palace Theater Box Office at 203-346-2000 or visit palacetheaterct.org.
Panelists: Cindy Eastman, Donna Finneran, Dan Lowry, Matt Monagan, and Thai Vo
Randye Kaye (Moderator)Randye Kaye anchors NPR affiliate WSHU’s “All Things Considered” during evenings and hosts the podcast “Good at Heart.” She is an author, actor, and speaker whose work explores resilience, healing, and personal transformation. She performs extensively in voiceover and audiobook narration, podcasts, storytelling, and public speaking. Randye is the author of Ben Behind His Voices: One Family’s Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope—nominated for a Listen Up! Award—and Happier Made Simple: Choose Your Words. Change Your Life (Front Porch Press, 2022).

A lifelong theater artist, Randye is a proud member of the CT Theater Women Network. Favorite roles include Bye Bye Birdie (Mae), Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), Broadway Bound (Kate), Fireflies (Eleanor), Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (Majorie), and Nunsense (Sister Robert Anne, directed by Danny Goggin). She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and AFTRA. More information is available at randyekaye.com.

Cindy Eastman

Cindy Eastman is a passionate advocate for healing and personal growth following profound life challenges. Through her story, she shares the power of perseverance, connection, and the human capacity to move forward even after unimaginable loss.
Eastman is the award-winning author of Flip-Flops After 50: And Other Thoughts on Aging I Remembered to Write Down and True Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver. She recently edited the anthology Grief Like Yours, published in June 2025. Cindy is also a contributor to multiple anthologies and writes a weekly Substack essay, Silver Linings.
In collaboration with her daughter, Annie Musso, Cindy co-authored the essay series “Can We Talk About Cancer?” which chronicled Annie’s courageous battle with cancer before her death in April 2024. Cindy holds a master’s degree in education, has taught writing to students ages 5 to 85, currently teaches English at her local community college, and facilitates several writing groups. She lives in Watertown, Connecticut, with her husband Angelo and cherishes time with her grandchildren.

Donna Finneran

Donna Finneran’s journey reflects the strength that can emerge from hardship. With honesty and heart, she speaks about navigating grief and adversity while discovering renewed purpose, hope, and meaning.
Finneran co-founded the Brian O’Connell Homeless Project alongside her husband Walter and their children in honor of her twin brother Brian, who struggled with PTSD after witnessing the 9/11 tragedy. Through the distribution of “Brian Bags” and community-driven outreach, Donna and her foundation provide essential care packages to individuals experiencing homelessness while promoting dignity, compassion, and hope.
After Brian went missing and was later found deceased, Donna endured overwhelming grief and despair. A pivotal connection with Father James Sullivan and the support of a parish community helped redirect her pain into purpose, leading to the creation of the Brian O’Connell Homeless Project. Donna believes people want to help those experiencing homelessness but often don’t know how—and her work bridges that gap with humanity and respect.

Dan Lowry

Dan Lowry brings a compelling perspective on resilience shaped by life-altering experiences. His story highlights the importance of courage, vulnerability, and the ability to rebuild when life takes an unexpected turn.
Lowry is a Social Studies teacher at Middletown High School and a former college athlete. In November 2019, he was hospitalized with a severe case of Legionnaires’ Disease, beginning a health journey that would be compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the next four years, Dan contracted COVID five times and became a long-hauler, leaving him unable to work or care for himself.
Through perseverance, medical advocacy, support groups, research, alternative therapies, and determination, Dan gradually regained his health. His story is one of resilience and hope, highlighting the long road to recovery and the importance of persistence when the future feels uncertain.

Matt Monagan

Matt Monagan shares a deeply personal story of endurance and recovery, offering insight into the emotional and mental journey from tragedy toward triumph. His message emphasizes growth, self-reflection, and hope.
Monagan is a full-time writer for MLB.com and a freelance contributor to Travel + Leisure, Architectural Digest, and Condé Nast Traveler. In October 2018, his wife Dhanushka was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive brain cancer. After a courageous fight, she passed away in June 2020, leaving Matt widowed at age 33.
Following her death, Matt returned to Connecticut to live with his parents while navigating intense grief and anxiety. Healing came through therapy, family, and eventually community—particularly through a local softball league in New York City. Matt’s story centers on rebuilding life after devastating loss and embracing the present with openness and gratitude.
Thai VoThai Vo’s story is one of transformation through adversity. By sharing his lived experience, he inspires audiences to see possibility beyond pain and to embrace resilience, gratitude, and forward momentum.
Born in central Vietnam in 1974, Thai Vo escaped the country at age eight with his family on a small fishing boat, enduring ten harrowing days at sea marked by starvation, sickness, and pirate attacks before being rescued. After time spent in a refugee camp, his family immigrated to the United States in search of freedom and opportunity.

Thai overcame significant early hardships, graduating from Watertown High School and Wentworth Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture. Now a partner in an architecture and construction firm in Tampa, Florida, Thai also survived a heart attack in 2017—an experience that deepened his commitment to health and purpose. His story reflects perseverance, gratitude, and the enduring hope for a better future.