'SEIZE THE STAGE' Epilepsy Benefit to Return This Month for Camp Blackhawk

Seize the Stage: A Musical Revue Benefit for Epilepsy is back for its sixth year, raising funds for Camp Blackhawk.

Camp Blackhawk, a program of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago, is an overnight camp for children with mild to severe epilepsy designed so they can experience activities, sports and friendships while in a safe and medically monitored setting.

Over the past six years, the Seize the Stage concerts have raised more than $15,000 to help send children to Camp Blackhawk.

Back to produce the sixth benefit concert is original producer Sammi Gassel, with Scott Spector and Jacob Cohen. Associate producer is Pam Gassel. Seize the Stage features performers from the Chicago, New York and Arizona areas. The benefit will take place on Tuesday, July 25th at 7:30 pm at the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614).

In the cast are: Molly Abrams, Maggie Atkinson, Hannah Bergman, Sean Blitzstein, Jacob Cohen, Stuart Conlon, Sammi Gassel, Dede Ginsberg, Emmie Ginsberg, Cathy Glickman, Stefanie Guggenheim, Alex Iacobucci, Margaret Juravic, Justin Katin, Jonah Levi-Paesky, Patrick Luce, Andrew McCarthy, Katy Mitchell, Amanda Nach, Daniel Nach, Julie Orbach, Shelley Orbach, Kenzie Perry, Katie Phillips, Jonathan Protus, Justin Shorris, Nellie Shuford, Mara Silver-Schack, Anita Silvert, Rachel Silvert, Lisa Sobelman, Scott Spector, Brent Walker and Rachel Zarkowsky. Nathan Urdangen will be at the piano.

Created in 1946 as a grassroots effort in Illinois to help people with epilepsy, the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago is a not-for-profit organization in Illinois, serving 43 counties. The EFGC offers counseling, participates in advocacy efforts and provides educational services to people with epilepsy, their families, and the communities in which they live.

Each summer, the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's Camp Blackhawk gives its young participants an experience they won't soon forget. For one week, children ages 6-17, come together to enjoy all of the fun activities and friendships that come with a trip to camp, while leaving behind various challenges epilepsy can bring to their daily lives. They are all surrounded--some for the first time--by dozens of other kids who know exactly what having epilepsy means. They don't have to worry about what people will think if they have a seizure, about being excluded, or about feeling different. At Camp Blackhawk, epilepsy is the norm.

Purchase tickets at www.greenhousetheater.org/seizethestage. To donate and help offset production costs, consider going to the donor drive page.

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