Union Stage will host a second edition of the locally produced All The Feels: A Mental Health Variety Show. The show features ten performers of comedy, music, poetry, and storytelling, to shine a spotlight on everyday, serious experiences of mental health. Their stories are engaging, poignant, and sometime hilarious – including living with multiple personality disorder, coping with debilitating anxiety and bipolar disorder, surviving suicide, and reflecting on medication, therapy and trauma. The show will be held Thursday October 3 at 8 p.m. at Union Stage, 740 Water Street SW, Washington D.C. 20024
The lineup of performers is Anne Barlieb, Topher Bellavia, Carolivia Herron, Mikala Jamison, Andy Malecki, Damon Modarres, Maddox Pennington, Dominic Rivera, Sam Robotham and C Thomas.
Barlieb is an army veteran who will be sharing a spoken word piece about the psychological challenges that followed her many years of service as a fighter pilot. Herron is a published author and professor at Howard University who wanted to participate in All The Feels to “share my creative works celebrating my successful healing from mental illness. I have always loved public speaking and humorous story-telling.” Rivera is a father, husband and popular local comedian who does material about his struggles with anxiety. His interest in doing this show is “to show others its okay to share your truth.”
Producers Ali Cherry and Kim Levone, two local showrunners who share a passion for mental health advocacy, chose the October date for its proximity to World Mental Health Day. “Our first show exceeded our expectations”, remembers Cherry, “both in the quality of the performances and the response of the audience.” Levone continues, “It’s an intense show but not a heavy one. There are serious feelings and some tears, but there is also laughter, warmth and a lot of support.”
Levone is a clinical social worker and produces the Silver Spring based Improbable Comedy. Cherry is an area comedian, mental health advocate and producer of Comedy in Coffee Shops.
DETAILS
$25 tickets available at www.allthefeelsshow.com
Union Stage, 740 Water Street SW, Washington DC 20024. Full food and drink menu available. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m. Recommended for ages 16+.
About The Author
Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter
I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!
My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.
Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.
As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.
