Yes, You Can Laugh at Cancer

Kathleen Neal

June 7, 2013

Yes, You Can Laugh at Cancer

                        If you think turning thirty is a daunting milestone, consider being diagnosed with cancer just as you are entering that next step toward being a real adult person. That’s what happened to musician Tom Willner.

                        As almost anyone who has had cancer or lived through cancer treatment with a loved one or friend will tell you, there are silver linings - you just have to be aware of them. Tom’s silver lining was the ability to let his music ride along on his cancer journey as he wrote songs about the experience. Little did he know that those songs would eventually become a musical play.

                        “Turning Thirty, The Musical” hits every emotion cancer patients, family and friends feel - from anger and fear to hope and determination. These moments are captured in song - sometimes moving or sad and sometimes even funny.

                        So how can you laugh at cancer? With gusto! In the play you giggle behind your hand at the rendition of “Masturbating in a Cup.” Later you want to throw tomatoes as T.C. (Yes, The Cancer sings!) belts out the song “Greatest Job in the World,” delivered in a Grinch-like fashion.

                        “Turning Thirty” is an experience you won’t soon forget. Fortunately, you can experience this marvelous theatrical production - for free - on Monday, June 10th at the Theatrical Outfit.

                        Tom raised money through Kickstarter last year to fund a one week workshop with theater professionals to look at the play and suggest ways to make the production even better. “I’m a musician, not a playwright,” Tom told me. He is excited about taking this venture as far as it will go. There have been four performances to date that raised over $6,000 for charity, including his employer The American Cancer Society.

                        If  this information has captured your interest, you can go to www.turningthirty.org to learn more about Tom, how the play came to be and hear the music - but when T.C. belts out “The Greatest Job in the World” please don’t throw tomatoes at your computer screen!

                        “Turning Thirty, the Musical”

                        Monday, June 10, 2013

                        7:30-9:30 pm

                        Theatrical Outfit’s Blazer Theater

                        84 Luckier St., NW

                        Free

                        turningthirty.eventbrite.com.