COVID took away her employment. Then came a breast-cancer diagnosis. Here’s how the community, and The DAF, is supporting BDT Stage favorite Alicia Meyers.
Aid recipient Alicia Meyers: Alicia has been an actor, director and choreographer at BDT Stage since 1995, winning a 2019 True West Ward as co-director and co-choreographer of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Mamma Mia.” She was playing the consequential role of Emma Goldman in “Ragtime” when the COVID shutdown began the day after opening night. Meyers, a native of Houston and resident of Longmont, has worked as an actress, choreographer and director in the Denver metro area for 25 years. She also has worked as the director/choreographer for Platte Middle School and Silver Creek High School, and as part of Candlelight Dinner Theatre’s musical-theatre education program. As a performer, favorite roles have included Ursula in The Little Mermaid and Velma Kelly in Chicago. Other credits have included Disenchanted!, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Addams Family, Always Patsy Cline, Hairspray, Spamalot, Hello, Dolly!, CATS, Cabaret, Gypsy and Singin’ in the Rain.
Her medical story: When COVID closed BDT Stage in March 2020, it took most of the theatre’s performing opportunities with it. In August, Alicia was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer, and she began chemotherapy/radiation in September. In March 2021, Alicia underwent a mastectomy. When the pandemic hit, Alicia’s husband was furloughed from his job. Alicia had just started a part-time retail job she had to give up during chemo because of her compromised so she would not be exposed the public while undergoing treatment. That left the family relying primarily on unemployment just as the medical bills started to hit.
How we have helped: Because Alicia’s treatment (and her life) depended on the continuation of her health-insurance policy, the family was forced onto an expensive but essential COBRA health-insurance policy costing $1,403.39 a month. The Denver Actors Fund paid the premium for four months, or $5,614, until the couple could use the open-enrollment period to switch to a more reasonably priced plan. In addition, The DAF has paid $10,708 in out-of-pocket medical expenses. The community has contributed nearly $9,940 in additional donations, including $3,378 raised by BDT Stage from audiences at performances of “Take to the Highway,” a concert tribute to James Taylor, Carole King and Carly Simon.
The next chapter: With everything else Alicia has had to cope with over the past year, the last thing she needed was a dental emergency. But shortly after he surgery, she necessitated a crown. The Denver Actors Fund has a partnering dentist in Dr. Brian Kelly DDS, who accepts a limited number of emergency cases each year as his personal, in-kind donation to The DAF (with his kind associates at the Dental Center at Thornton Plaza). Dr. Kelly performed an exam, X-Rays and gave Alicia a new porcelain crown. The value of Dr. Kelly’s services to an everyday patient would have come to $1,611. In addition, The Denver Actors Fund paid $99 to cover an outside lab fee That brings The Denver Actors Fund’s overall support for Alicia to date to $27,973.
‘There are days when I feel like my legs are too weak to stand upon, and all these people are there to lift me right up.’
A message from Alicia: “Without The Denver Actors Fund, I would be beyond screwed. I am honored and appreciative, not only for the financial support but for the emotional support as well. I am so very grateful to be part of this amazingly unique theatre community. This morning I received 20 text messages from people sending me love and well-wishes before I even got to the hospital for my first chemo treatment. There are too many people to try to thank individually at BDT Stage, but my love goes out to Michael J. Duran, Giana Giraldi and every single other person there. There are days when I feel like my legs are too weak to stand upon, and all these people are there to lift me right up. I know I am not alone on this journey, and it is because of my amazing family – and my amazing BDT Stage family. My parents and husband and my daughter have been incredible. Your arms and hearts are wide open, and I feel your love every single day.”
How you can help us Alicia more: Despite the tremendous outpouring of support for Alicia, her husband and daughter, she has more miles ahead on her cancer journey, and more bills will be following her every step of the way. Essential living expenses will be difficult to cover. If you would like to direct a specific donation to help give Alicia some breathing room and focus on healing, simply mail checks in any amount made out to ALICIA MEYERS (not The Denver Actors Fund) to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80211. We cannot accept targeted donations for Alicia Meyers online. If you would like to help The Denver Actors Fund to replenish, you can use this donation link. with our humble thanks.
Read testimonials from other Denver Actors Fund beneficiaries here
Note: At The Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have their story told.
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. In addition to $692,000 in financial relief, a team of more than 60 Denver Actors Fund volunteers have offered good neighborly assistance to more than 100 beneficiaries including meal prep and delivery, child care, transportation, errands, construction, pet-sitting and more. For more information, visit our web site at DenverActorsFund.Org.
HOW TO APPLY FOR AID:
To apply for Denver Actors Fund aid: Fill out this brief online form here
NEW: AFFORDABLE MENTAL HEALTH CARE
The Denver Actors Fund has announced a major new collaboration with the Maria Droste Counseling Center of Colorado to provide affordable, professional health care to any qualifying Colorado theatre artist who needs it. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION
GET INSTANT, FREE MEDICAL ADVICE: The Denver Actors Fund has launch of a major new FREE medical service for qualified Colorado theatre artists: We are partnering with Hippo Health to provide access to emergency medical evaluations via video conferencing with a Board-certified physician. Click to read more about this wonderful, innovative new partnership that will further improve the lives of artists!
MORE WAYS TO HELP:
DONATE ONLINE:
Go to our online giving site at: ColoradoGives.Org
DONATE BY MAIL:
Send checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to:
P.O. Box 11182
Denver, CO 80211
VOLUNTEER:
Ever thought about taking a more active role in The Denver Actors Fund? Click here for more information
SHOP AT KING SOOPERS
Sign up for King Soopers’ Community Rewards Program and raise money for The DAF just by shopping for your groceries – and it doesn’t cost you an extra penny. It’s like the Amazon Smile Program. To sign up, simply go here and designate The DAF as your preferred non-profit. Each quarter, King Soopers sends us a donation based on how much our supporters have spent. Thanks to all of you who are shopping for The DAF.
COME TO THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
Note: All events are tentative based on COVID-19 developments:
AVAILABLE NOW: This year “Miscast,” the major annual fundraiser for The Denver Actors Fund, has pivoted to “CAST 2020,” a professionally produced on-demand video concert featuring Colorado theatre artists performing in roles they WERE cast to play before the coronavirus shut down their shows. “CAST 2020” includes nearly a dozen showstopping songs by an all-star lineup of Colorado theatre performers:
- Rebecca Myers, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
- Lisa Kay Carter and Seth Dhonou, Arvada Center’s ‘Something Rotten’
- Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp with Michelle Rocqet, Phamaly Theatre Company’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’
- Scott Hurst, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s ‘Curtains’
- Mary Louise Lee, Vintage Theatre’s ‘Gypsy’
- McKayla Marso, BDT Stage’s ‘The Sound of Music’
- Cal Meakins, Forge Light Theatreworks’ ‘Bare: The Musical’
- Keith Hershman and Jessie Oblazny, Magic Moments’ ‘Take the High Road’
- Mercedes Perez, Lake Dillon Theatre’s ‘Man of La Mancha’
- Jenna Moll Reyes, Aurora Fox’s ‘Freaky Friday’
- Camryn Torres, Miners Alley Playhouse’s ‘Once on This Island’
For your donation of at least $20, you will be sent a link to the video within 24 hours. You can then watch the concert at your leisure. Reserve your link today
‘Miscast’ is the major annual fundraiser for The Denver Actors Fund. It produced each year by Robert Michael Sanders and Kenny Moten, wit 100 percent of all proceeds going to The DAF. CAST 2020′ was recorded primarily at Focus Event Studios in north Denver and edited by Ray Bailey TV. We are eternally grateful to all of them for making this important event possible, and to you for watching.
ONGOING: “Waiting for Obama,” the audio version of a play that was an official selection at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, has been released as a (free) fundraiser for The Denver Actors Fund. A Colorado Springs family is convinced that Barack Obama is coming for their guns in the final weeks of his presidency – and they’re right.) The play features Laurence Curry, Drew Horwitz, Chris Kendall, Leslie O’Carroll, Jenna Moll Reyes, Jessica Robblee, Luke Sorge and Mare Trevathan. It was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center as an in-kind donation to The Denver Actors Fund. Listen for free on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean. Just by listening, you will be raising revenue for The DAF! Or, WATCH the recording as a pay-per-view video for $9.95 on Broadway on Demand. ‘Waiting for Obama’ was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center and edited by Ray Bailey TV as in-kind donations to The Denver Actors Fund. The actors also donated their services.
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a light-hearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit http://mcleod9creative.com/shop/quarantine-week-by-weak-photo-book. This project is generously sponsored by: The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
VISIT OUR ONLINE MERCH STORE:
Click here to see how you can buy DAF products such as T-shirts, key chains, puzzles and much more.
