American Cancer Society's Evening of Elegance Planned for April 23rd

ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY  --  The American Cancer Society’s 6th Annual Evening of Elegance will be held Friday, April 23rd beginning at 6:00 pm at the Calvin House in Duncansville.

This year’s theme April In Paris is a cabaret and includes an original musical production by Michael Kooman also entitled April In Paris, about a young woman discovering Paris and a young man discovering Altoona.

Born and raised in Altoona, Kooman has resided in New York City for the past several years where he has won several prestigious awards including the 2010 Jonathon Larson Award. Kooman and his writing partner, Christopher Dimond, met while students at Carnegie Mellon. Their most recent musical, Golden Gate, premiered at the Williamsburg Theatre Festival. Their musical, Dani Girl, has been workshopped at the Kennedy Center’s New Visions / New Voices Festival, American Conservatory Theatre, the ASCAP, CAP-21, and was awarded the KC/ACTF Musical Theatre Award. In December it was also performed at the Penn State Musical Theatre.

In addition to the musical production, the American Cancer Society will also be honoring the McKillop Family, owners of Giant Eagle stores in Altoona, Bedford and Ebensburg with the Shirley A. Pechter Pinnacle Award for their dedication and leadership to the mission of the Cancer Society.  The McKillop family holds one of the most successful Annual Grocers Day events in the Pennsylvania Division and has raised more than $1 million in the past 16 years.

The evening will also include a martini and wine bar, elegant hors d’oeuvres, dinner and dessert, Dancing, a Silent Auction. A Live Auction led by WTAJ-TV anchor Carolyn Donaldson will complete the evening’s events.

Money raised from this event provides cancer patients with services, education programs, and funds cancer research. Tickets are $125 per person. For more information call the American Cancer Society at 814-695-9232 or go online to http://gala.acsevents.org/