Photo Flash: Planet Ant Theatre Opens CANCER! THE MUSICAL Tonight, 11/9

In addition to Planet Ant's regular schedule, the theatre will produce and present a remount of the 2006 Wilde Award winning satirical comedy, Cancer! The Musical, tonight, November 9 through December 15 at the Boll Theatre inside the downtown Detroit Boll Family YMCA. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

The brainchild of Tom Donnellon, a cancer survivor and surgeon with HOPE Surgical (Port Huron), the show tells the tale of a researcher who believes he has the cure for cancer, a rival pharmaceutical exec who wants to steal the cure, and a surgeon who needs it to save the woman he loves. Donnellon co-wrote the book with his brother, Second City Detroit alumn and Planet Ant Artistic Director Shawn Handlon (Harper Woods). For the score, the brothers enlisted local musician and Second City musical director John Edwartowski (Harper Woods) and penned 15 original songs. For this remounted production, Handlon will direct with Edwartowski as Musical Director.

The production will feature Dustin Gardner (Pleasant Ridge), Britta Peele (Harrison Township), Kelly Rossi (Grosse Pointe Park), David Schoen (Dearborn), Jamen Spitzer (Ferndale), and Dez Walker (Royal Oak).

Originally staged at Detroit's Abreact Theater in fall of 2005, Cancer! The Musical has enjoyed several engagements including Planet Ant Theatre in May 2006 and what is now the Elizabeth Theatre at the Park Bar in May 2011. In 2007 it was featured off Broadway in the New York City International Fringe Festival where it garnered critical praise for its clever, creative, and insightful handling of cancer's effect on the lives of everyday people, doctors and the healthcare industry.

For the musical's engagement at the downtown Detroit Boll Family YMCA, a portion of the show's ticket sales will benefit Gilda's Club Metro Detroit which provides a social and emotional support program for men, women, teens and children living with cancer, their families and friends in a nonresidential, home-like setting at no cost to its participants. Gilda's Club Metro Detroit was named in tribute to Gilda Radner, comedienne and Second City alum, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Tickets ($25) for Cancer! The Musical are on sale now at www.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets will also be available one hour before show time at the Boll Theatre box office. The show will appear at 8pm Friday and Saturday evenings as well as at 2pm on select Sunday afternoons tonight, November 9- December 15 at The Boll Theatre inside the downtown Detroit Boll Family YMCA located at 1401 Broadway Street, Detroit, Michigan.

More information about Gilda's Club Metro Detroit is available online at www.gildasclubdetroit.org. More information on the Boll Theatre is available online at ymcadetroit.org/boll.

Photo Credit: Mikey Brown

Britta Peele and Jamen Spitzer appear as Annie and Dr. Harris

Dez Walker appears as Dr. Bojangles with (L-R) medical students Dustin Gardner, Jamen Spitzer and Britta Peele

Dustin Gardner, Dez Walker, Britta Peele and Jamen Spitzer dance as lab mice

Dustin Gardner (Dr. Bernard) and Britta Peele (Dr. Fisher)