Cancer survivor celebrates life at Nazareth Performing Arts Center
Article from Brighton Pittsford Post here.
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Article from Brighton Pittsford Post here.
Article from the Henrietta Post in Rochester, NY.
Art at the Threshold presents Jonna’s Body, Please Hold
Barrymore Theatre
2090 Atwood Ave., Madison
Tickets available online at the Barrymore Theatre
Or phone 608-241-8864
$20 in advance and $25 Day of Show
$50 VIP: Includes preferred seating and a reception at Dobhan Restaurant (2110 Atwood Ave. one block from the Barrymore) to follow the show from 3:00 to 5:00 that will feature wonderful food, live music and an opportunity to meet Jonna Tamases in person.
Art at the Threshold is an annual event series that explores the relationship between wellness and illness, wholeness and brokenness, insider and outsider, as seen through the lens of the arts – visual, word, sound, movement, performance, culinary and ritual. Performances and community events explore various aspects of this threshold juncture and offer opportunities for engagement, inquiry, inspiration, discovery and dialog.
Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: UC Davis Cancer Center
4501 X St., Sacramento
(Click here to map directions)
This special event is free and open to the public
Please RSVP to Patti Robinson
(916) 734-0823 or e-mail
(Seating is limited to the first 150 guests)
AMC community relations director Nancy Stewart, Dr. Virginia Borges, AMC executive director Alice Norton and Jonna Tamases at the Women's Event in June 2010.
The First Annual Women’s Event on June 9, 2010 raised $14,000 and generated challenge grants for UCCC,s Young Women’s Breast Cancer Translational Research Program. AMC supporters Walter and Laura Dear challenged guests to match their personal donation of $10,000, and donors are rising to the challenge. The event featured Jonna Tamases’s one-woman play, “Jonna’s Body, Please Hold,” which chronicles her life as a three-time cancer survivor. Her funny, touching performance was well received.
The Auckland Methodist Central Parish, Pilgrim Productions, CityLife Hotel Auckland and BCS joined together to present a wonderful evening of entertainment with visiting Los Angeles-based actress Jonna Tamases and her award-winning one-woman show “Jonna’s Body, Please Hold!” 
On Friday 22 May, 90 people gathered at the Theatre Pitt to enjoy the show and to raise money for BCS. Jonna (pictured) performed in Auckland courtesy of the aforementioned sponsors and helped raise over $1,000 for BCS.
“Jonna’s Body, Please Hold” offers an original, often hilarious but poignant, tender look into Ms Tamases’ own battle with cancer, a performance that uplifts, inspires and challenges despair with Jonna’s own contagious zest for life.
Jonna gives us a glimpse into the hectic day to day world of her body, complete with Baby Toe (who is squeezed into a too-tight shoe), Upper Back who threatens to go on strike if she doesn’t rest up a little and those irrepressible twins Uta and Ula, breasts begging to be released from the torment of a restricting bra. A busy receptionist sits at a switchboard, fielding calls from these irate tenants, dishing out as much comfort and advice as she can while her boss, Ms Jonna, carries on with life, somewhat oblivious and neglectful of the goings-on inside her body … that is until two unwanted tenants move in – the charming French madame Venice and the tough ‘old goat’ Walter – two cancerous personalities determined to set up housekeeping and wreak their havoc.
Jonna performs with an engaging honesty, involving the audience not only in the drama of the situation unfolding within her body but also establishing a chatty rapport as she speaks directly about her life and experiences.
With courage, honesty, and humor Jonna takes us inside her battle with cancer. We are with her every step of the way as she is diagnosed, more than once, endures tests, scans, biopsies and multiple rounds of chemotherapy and then we are there as her ravaged body begins to recover from the trauma of the disease. The body parts report in as they fight the battle and struggle to recover and restore her to health. Jonna finds that her body – its strength and will to survive – is her greatest ally and her most precious asset.
Jonna’s performance moved, inspired and delighted the audience – a truly talented actress with a brave, courageous and moving story to tell.
For more information about Jonna, visit her play website, Jonnas’ Body. Click here to view the Auckland performance poster.
BCS wishes to thank the Auckland Methodist Central Parish, Pilgrim Productions and CityLife Hotel Auckland for their kind support of this event.
Jonna’s Body Movie (Home Use Only) 
