Friends Host Benefit For Local Actor With Brain Tumor: Photos

GREENPORT, NY — Friends of a local actor who is facing his most daunting challenge came together Saturday for a benefit performance filled with theater, music, poetry and heart, all meant to help him in his hour of need.

For years, local actor Kevin Monsell has delighted community theater audiences with his talent and stellar performances — but he was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

Northeast Stage held a benefit performance for Monsell on Saturday at Holy Trinity Church in Greenport.

Monsell is a veteran performer who has appeared in numerous plays throughout Long Island, most recently with Northeast Stage and North Fork Community Theatre.

All proceeds from the event will assist Monsell with his treatment, expenses, and medical bills.

The evening featured East End actors, musicians, and singers and included raffles and a Chinese auction, organizers said.

In addition, a GoFundMe page, "Kevin Monsell," has been created by his wife Cathy in Moriches.

"This is my dear husband, Kevin Monsell," she wrote; the couple has been married for almost 23 years.

"Kevin was in a very serious car accident on Nov. 22, 2017, the night before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Kevin's car was totaled, but really didn't sustain any visible injuries. However, after the hospital gave Kevin a CT scan to check for a concussion . . . they found a brain tumor," she wrote.

The tumor, she said, is large, the size of a plum, inoperable, and in the deep right hemisphere of his brain called the thalamus.

"Kevin is unable to work, drive or do anything that he did that was considered 'normal,' since the accident," Cathy said. "We really need help from Kevin's dear friends, his theater friends, co-workers and his Facebook family for things that our medical insurance does not provide, that he needs. We wish we could do everything all by ourselves, but it just isn't possible, because I have been disabled physically for 17 years and counting. Kevin took care of all of my needs and everything else we needed."

Currently, Cathy said, Kevin is unsteady on his feet, and has serious vision impairment due to the brain tumor. Kevin's doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Commack "told us that this tumor is 'life-limiting', even with treatment," she said.

Another physician told the couple that Kevin "has 15 months to live," she said.

"We definitely don't want to believe that, but we were told that it's probable. The doctor said that 50% of people who have this kind of tumor can do better with treatment and that 50% do worse even with treatment, but that this cancer cannot be destroyed or cured. As you might imagine, this has turned our world and lives upside down and shaken up like a half-broken snow globe," Cathy said.

She added, "We hate to ask you for financial help, but under these circumstances, Kevin and I don't really have a choice. Anything that you can do will be a tremendous help."

To donate, click here.

Photo gallery by Lori Cohen-Horton.
Middle photo courtesy GoFundMe.