MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012
Volume 11 Issue 97
Santa Monica Daily Press
LEAGUE LOOKS INTO BOUNTIES SEE PAGE 12
We have you covered
THE INNER VISION ISSUE
Blind theater group inspires actors and their audience
COMMUNITYPROFILES
JULIE WEISS
‘Marathon goddess’ puts spotlight on pancreatic cancer BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
BY COLIN NEWTON
Daily Press Staff Writer
Special to the Daily Press
MAIN STREET On a typical day, Julie Weiss will wake up, walk out of the door of her Santa Monica apartment and go for a five mile run near the beach. She claims it’s better for waking a person up than coffee, which she’s given up for Lent, but the runs hold another, more important purpose than jumpstarting the morning: training. Every week for the next year, Weiss plans to run a full marathon as part of her “52 for You” campaign, an effort to raise $1 million to support research and programs for the Manhattan Beach-based nonprofit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. That’s 26.2 miles, an amount that many people would consider an accomplishment to complete once in their lives, every weekend. “I’m determined,” Weiss said. “This is something that can be done.” Weiss already has 24 marathons under her belt since she began doing the races in 2008, and a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon which she will run this year. The marathon goddess, as she is known in running circles, also has motivation that goes far beyond a desire for reputation, or even a love of the sport. Weiss qualified for Boston in December 2010, a month after her father, Maurice Weiss, died from pancreatic cancer. The loss was devastating, and caused her to look more deeply into the mysterious illness that had taken the vivacious man who went through the world each day with a pocket trumpet and the humor to use it. She didn’t like what she found. According to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancreatic cancer is the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, but is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. It’s the only cancer that has a five-year
DOWNTOWN The tension in the garage was familiar to anyone who’s ever been at a play rehearsal. The garage, located in a house north of Montana Avenue, had been dressed up to look like an outdoor café. Actors ran over lines and worked out blocking, sometimes repeating lines and tweaking movements, nailing their parts in a heartbeat. But, unlike most other actors, everyone in this company was visually impaired. Most were totally blind. These actors were part of Theatre by the Blind, a performing arts program for visually impaired adults. The program is part of CRE Outreach, a West Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that uses theater to reach visually impaired individuals and atrisk youth. The program was created by Christina Kokobo, who took people from the Braille Institute and put them on stage where they engaged an audience and told the stories of their lives. After Kokobo died in 2007, the program fell into the hands of artistic director Greg Shae and executive director Bryan Caldwell. Shae and Caldwell, who had a mutual background in theater, turned the program into a touring group that produced and put on self-written shows. Although most years the characters and stories are generated by the actors, this time the source is from outside the group. The work is “Private Eyes,” written by Stephen Dietz, a thriller that presents a play within a play about an actor whose wife appears to be having an affair with a director. “I thought it would be a really interesting challenge,” Shae said. Although Shae has worked with a variety of people, from the mentally ill to life sentence prisoners, this work is personal for
ALL ABOUT SEUSS
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Juggler David Cousin performs during the Fifth Annual Super Seuss-Abration at the Santa Monica Main Branch Library's Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium on Saturday morning.
SEE PLAY PAGE 7
SEE CP PAGE 11
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