Special Presentation Of WARM CHEESE Announced At LaughFest 10th Anniversary

Gilda's LaughFest, the nation's first ever community- wide festival of laughter, today announced that the 10th year of the festival will be held March 5-15, 2020. In addition to announcing official festival dates and to celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary, LaughFest in partnership with Emmy award-winning producer and accomplished performer and writer Teresa Thome, and Fubble Entertainment will host a special production of Thome's Warm Cheese.

Warm Cheese, an inspirational work filled with humor and poignancy about Thome's grief journey following the death of her mother, will be performed August 15, 16 and 17 at Spectrum Theater. Each performance begins at 8 p.m. The August 15 show will include a post-show talk back discussion with the show's director Stan Zimmerman. Zimmerman is a multi-hyphenate and award-winning talent, who has also served as a Writer for Golden Girls, Gilmore Girls, Roseanne and so much more. And as a director for numerous shows including his own piece, "Right Before I Go" performed at New York's Town Hall (Michael Wilson/Director).

"We are excited to kick off our 10th anniversary a little early," said Joanne Roehm, LaughFest Festival Director. "It's an honor for us to be the beneficiary of Teresa Thome's special performance here in our community. Her personal journey speaks to the mission of grief, cancer and emotional health support Gilda's Club offers free to our community."

Following Thome's Grand Rapids performance, she will perform Warm Cheese in New York City at United Solo Fest. The performance is an intimate and comedic exploration of a woman wanting to no longer hate her dead mother. The night of her mother's funeral as the family all gathers, a daughter learns more about her mother than she ever expected or wanted. Tickets can be purchased at warmcheese.com. Spectrum Theater is located at 160 Fountain Street NE, in Grand Rapids.

Gilda's Club Grand Rapids is a free emotional health support community of children, adults, families and friends on any kind of cancer journey or those grieving a death due to any cause. Its comprehensive program, delivered by professionals, includes education, structured sharing times, networking, lectures, workshops and social activities. Gilda's Club Grand Rapids is one of the largest and busiest of the 42 affiliates in North America. The organization runs entirely on

charitable donations and currently serves more than 10,000 individuals each year at its clubhouses in Grand Rapids and Lowell, Mich., in various schools and community centers.

Past LaughFest headliners have included Howie Mandel, Seth Meyers, George Lopez, Wanda Sykes, Ed Asner, Ali Wong, Loni Love, Billy Gardell, Iliza, Amy Schumer, Jay Leno, Lily Tomlin, Chris Tucker, Pete Holmes, Sinbad, Margaret Cho, Betty White, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Epps, Kathleen Madigan, Martin Short, Kevin Nealon, Wayne Brady, Jim Breuer, Joel McHale, Lewis Black and Brian Regan.

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