Powerful Stories, Legendary Talent, and Unforgettable Performances: Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Visible Ink Program Celebrates Ten Years

Share

Visible Ink at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is the leading — and largest — writing program of its kind. Writing promotes creativity, reduces stress, and empowers people with cancer to give voice to their stories.

On Monday, April 16 at , the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College will host Visible Ink’s largest audience to date to celebrate the program’s tenth anniversary and annual live performance. The show will feature 12 original works written by MSK patients.

Actors, singers, dancers, and musicians from television, film, and Broadway will take the stage to bring these pieces to life. This year’s ensemble includes Emmy award–winner and daytime leading lady Susan Lucci (All My Children), Tony award–nominee Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me, Kate), and a number of Broadway stars, including Devin Ilaw (Miss Saigon), Marva Hicks (Motown the Musical), Javier Ignacio (Side Show), Kathryn Mowat Murphy (Pal Joey), and Shannon Rugani (An American in Paris).

This year’s show reflects hugely diverse experiences and perspectives, including a young immigrant from Nepal reflecting on belonging, a Marine veteran recounting a hilarious encounter during rehab, and a woman who transports herself to the theater through her headphones during an MRI scan.

Now in its tenth year, Visible Ink, founded by award-winning novelist Judith Kelman, has helped more than 1,900 people with cancer and caregivers to tell their stories, which need not be related to illness.

Participants are supported by a network of 200 volunteer mentors, including Emmy and Tony award–winning writers and composers, New York Times best-selling authors, and editors and staff writers from Vogue, Time, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, and Vanity Fair. Together they work to craft meaningful pieces in a variety of forms: essays, poetry, stage or screenplays, blogs, comedy sketches, songs, and more.

To learn more and view past performances, please visit www.mskcc.org/visibleink. For more information and to set up interviews or access photos and video, email [email protected].