Brain cancer survivor auditions for musical just months after treatment
By: Kathy Yanchus, Inside Halton
‘Never give up on your dreams’
Brain cancer survivor auditions for musical just months after treatment
Kimm Fletcher says she felt a little like Dory, the good-natured little fish with short-term memory loss from the popular animated film, Finding Nemo.
As she rehearsed with the ensemble cast of Globe Productions’ Jesus Christ Superstar last year, she had the odd slip up.
Years ago she had memorized the lyrics to her “absolute favourite” musical; she and her sister would dance as the soundtrack blasted in the background, but she was hesitant now with the lyrics and the choreography.
She did her best to keep up but the rehearsals left her drained. Onlookers might have chalked it up to her lack of theatrical experience.
She hoped her glitches weren’t too obvious, like her “crappy first-ever audition” had been. “I thought, ‘oh well, I’m not going to get it (a part). But when I got home I thought it doesn’t matter about the part; I’m so happy I just did it.”
When the production was over, she sent an email to everyone involved, thanking them for their patience and their “tips, advice, hints and even commands as to when, where and how to do steps, notes, harmonies, costume and stage changes.”
It was important to her that fellow castmates know the reason she might have seemed out of her element.
What cast members were unaware of, was that it had been mere months between finishing her treatment for brain cancer and the day she summoned her courage to audition.
It was January 24, 2010 when Fletcher began experiencing “shocks” down her left arm. She would later discover these were seizures.
“I was thinking I’m 37 and I’m having a stroke or a heart attack,” said Fletcher.
The day had started routinely; she had attended church and played indoor soccer, but eventually had to lie down with the onset of a migraine.
Four days later she received the devastating news she had a tumour on the right side of her brain. In early February, she underwent an ‘awake craniotomy’ at Trillium Hospital, and a week later, she was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma stage three brain cancer.
Surgery and six weeks of intense radiation incapacitated her, leaving her unable to walk on her own, hold a conversation or organize a thought.
She had always been the organizer, the multi-tasker, said Fletcher.
“I was healthy, active, busy, productive,” said the mother of two young children, Keidon, 8 and Martie, 5.
While she recuperated at home, on a myriad of medications, as well as steroids, which added more than 30 pounds to her weight, she was at her computer and Googled Jesus Christ Superstar productions. The name Globe Productions popped up with audition dates. “I said, ‘are you kidding?’”
One day, Fletcher had always thought, she would audition for the musical, but “life gets in the way.” There was school and work, marriage and children. “Maybe it takes a brain tumour to slow you down…. to a halt,” she said somberly. “I thought if I don’t have a bucket list, I better do it now.”
She even hired a voice coach to prepare for her audition.
“I don’t even know how to read music,” smiled Fletcher, who still suffers seizures, which she describes as like being punched in the head.
One of those seizures occurred in the midst of her audition. The effect jolted her, interrupting her mid-song, but she pluckily started over.
She left the audition disheartened, and thought that was the end of it. Then came the call asking her if she was interested in being part of the ensemble.
Fletcher credits her participation in the show as playing a huge role in her recovery, her psychological healing. “I had to re-train my brain; it was almost like physiotherapy for the brain.”
It was the impetus she needed, as she’s now back to participating in a full regimen of sports: soccer, swimming and volleyball.
“I’m basically in remission,” she said.
And Fletcher’s theatrical story doesn’t end there. She’s again part of the ensemble cast for Globe’s cabaret production of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in March.
Yes, she has checked off an item on her bucket list, but truth be known, said Fletcher, what she longed to do was set an example for her children to never give up on their dreams.
‘Never give up on your dreams’
Brain cancer survivor auditions for musical just months after treatment
Kimm Fletcher says she felt a little like Dory, the good-natured little fish with short-term memory loss from the popular animated film, Finding Nemo.
As she rehearsed with the ensemble cast of Globe Productions’ Jesus Christ Superstar last year, she had the odd slip up.
Years ago she had memorized the lyrics to her “absolute favourite” musical; she and her sister would dance as the soundtrack blasted in the background, but she was hesitant now with the lyrics and the choreography.
She did her best to keep up but the rehearsals left her drained. Onlookers might have chalked it up to her lack of theatrical experience.
She hoped her glitches weren’t too obvious, like her “crappy first-ever audition” had been. “I thought, ‘oh well, I’m not going to get it (a part). But when I got home I thought it doesn’t matter about the part; I’m so happy I just did it.”
When the production was over, she sent an email to everyone involved, thanking them for their patience and their “tips, advice, hints and even commands as to when, where and how to do steps, notes, harmonies, costume and stage changes.”
It was important to her that fellow castmates know the reason she might have seemed out of her element.
What cast members were unaware of, was that it had been mere months between finishing her treatment for brain cancer and the day she summoned her courage to audition.
It was January 24, 2010 when Fletcher began experiencing “shocks” down her left arm. She would later discover these were seizures.
“I was thinking I’m 37 and I’m having a stroke or a heart attack,” said Fletcher.
The day had started routinely; she had attended church and played indoor soccer, but eventually had to lie down with the onset of a migraine.
Four days later she received the devastating news she had a tumour on the right side of her brain. In early February, she underwent an ‘awake craniotomy’ at Trillium Hospital, and a week later, she was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma stage three brain cancer.
Surgery and six weeks of intense radiation incapacitated her, leaving her unable to walk on her own, hold a conversation or organize a thought.
She had always been the organizer, the multi-tasker, said Fletcher.
“I was healthy, active, busy, productive,” said the mother of two young children, Keidon, 8 and Martie, 5.
While she recuperated at home, on a myriad of medications, as well as steroids, which added more than 30 pounds to her weight, she was at her computer and Googled Jesus Christ Superstar productions. The name Globe Productions popped up with audition dates. “I said, ‘are you kidding?’”
One day, Fletcher had always thought, she would audition for the musical, but “life gets in the way.” There was school and work, marriage and children. “Maybe it takes a brain tumour to slow you down…. to a halt,” she said somberly. “I thought if I don’t have a bucket list, I better do it now.”
She even hired a voice coach to prepare for her audition.
“I don’t even know how to read music,” smiled Fletcher, who still suffers seizures, which she describes as like being punched in the head.
One of those seizures occurred in the midst of her audition. The effect jolted her, interrupting her mid-song, but she pluckily started over.
She left the audition disheartened, and thought that was the end of it. Then came the call asking her if she was interested in being part of the ensemble.
Fletcher credits her participation in the show as playing a huge role in her recovery, her psychological healing. “I had to re-train my brain; it was almost like physiotherapy for the brain.”
It was the impetus she needed, as she’s now back to participating in a full regimen of sports: soccer, swimming and volleyball.
“I’m basically in remission,” she said.
And Fletcher’s theatrical story doesn’t end there. She’s again part of the ensemble cast for Globe’s cabaret production of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in March.
Yes, she has checked off an item on her bucket list, but truth be known, said Fletcher, what she longed to do was set an example for her children to never give up on their dreams.
