About 300,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. And despite the relatively common incidences of the disease, doctor visits, treatment and recovery is, understandably, a difficult time for patients and their loved ones.
Musicians Marcy Marxer and Cathy Fink can attest to this personally. Both of them have been diagnosed with breast cancer and became each other's primary caregiver.
The creative and life partners took their lived experiences with breast cancer and put it to song and stage creating “All Wigged Out.” The musical has made its way to the big screen and will be screened at Hi-Pointe Theatre on Oct. 20 with a live concert the next day.
The couple created a musical to “break the ice” on conversations around cancer and to help others cope with their feelings — and they want to bring the laughs. “I think one of the important things for us was we didn’t want to make a film that’s a downer,” Fink said on St. Louis on the Air. “We wanted to make something that had enough comedy to feel lighthearted, but enough information to actually help people.”
Acting as themselves, Fink and Marxer sing and play guitar in “All Wigged Out.” They portray what it was like to navigate medical appointments, rough days and funny moments — all while healing from numerous rounds of treatments.
Along with navigating the health care system, “All Wigged Out” explores living with cancer and simply talking about it with friends and family. The message behind the song “Unsolicited Advice” rings true for folks living with cancer or otherwise. “I got so much unsolicited advice, it was amazing. One of them was, ‘Stay positive,’ and then they’d walk away. [Or] ‘Don’t do chemo. It’s rat poison,” Marxer said. “But by the third comment, I started thinking they were funny. And I started keeping a list.”
For more about “All Wigged Out,” including the ironic way “Unsolicited Advice” made its way to the musical and to hear from Dr. Jovita Oruwari, director of community health at SSM Health Medical Group, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast, or by clicking the play button below.
Related Event
What: “All Wigged Out” film screening and discussion
When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 20
Where: Hi-Pointe Theatre (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production intern. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
