From Angela Lansbury

"Having seen a showcase run-through of “Unbeatable,” I can honestly say I was very impressed and deeply moved by the very relevant message the show imparts."

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8-18-08

Cancer survivor tells her story through musical
By Iris Fahrer | Forum Publishing Group

When Boca Raton resident Carlos Romero heard about Laurie Frey's battle with breast cancer and plans to do a musical about her experiences, he knew he had to get involved.

Romero is a financial planner with citi Smith Barney, and Frey's boss is a client. Through him, Romero got to know Frey over five or six years.

Frey, 44, of Cleveland, was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her 40th birthday. She is tour general manager for David Copperfield and the "Blue Man Group Megastar" tour.
What sets her apart from the other 178,480 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society Web site, is that she decided to tell her story. The result is Unbeatable: A Musical Journey.

Frey not only tells her story, but she also takes the audience along on her journey.

As part of a yearlong clinical trial, she endured endless medical tests, scans, chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and more chemotherapy. But the show is not all about what happened in the hospital. Frey explores the effect cancer, or any other serious illness, has on relationships; what it does to the spouse, family and friends; who steps up to the plate and who doesn't; and the roller coaster of emotions, Frey said. But the show is not all a cry-fest.

"Most people cry three times and then they're laughing," she said.

What made her decide to do this as a musical was her love for the genre.

"When I need a pick-me-up, I listen to music. When I want to relax, I listen to music," she said. "The musical numbers take you to the extreme emotional highs and lows in the show."

With a background that spans 20 years in professional theater management, Frey knows what works and what doesn't in mounting an off-Broadway musical. She has worked for Broadway producers, and her credits include Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof and David Copperfield. As she puts it, "I know what it takes to be a hit in New York."

She assembled a creative team, each with an impressive theatrical pedigree to put together her project. In addition to talent and experience, one thing they share is a personal connection to the project. Two have lost parents to cancer.

After (three) preliminary staged readings at the Phoenix Theatre in Phoenix and (at the Idea Centre at Playhouse Square) in Cleveland, the team is fresh off a New York showcase that took place from Aug. 2 to 5.

"It was incredible," Frey said. "The audience members said they were overwhelmed. They said it was the best show they've seen in years. One person wrote, 'Cancer has met its match.'"

Frey said she knows now the show is solid enough to make it in New York, but first she needs to raise capital.

Frey is adamant about keeping the show "real." To this end, she brought in focus groups to the New York showcase that included medical personnel and cancer survivors.

The Greater New York Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation ( is doing a third party promotion for )the off-Broadway production, and the show also will benefit The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

After Romero, an associate producer on the project, took his 12-year-old daughter to see the Cleveland reading, he was even more convinced.

"I was blown away by the show, the quality of the music, the quality of the people, their reasons for being part of the show. Every one of them was touched by cancer," he said.

His daughter was so moved by the show that she wanted to donate her baby-sitting money to the project.

"I cried," he said. "What more do you want as a parent than to see that moment when your child's heart opens up so unconditionally?"

"People should know [when dealing with] something as devastating as cancer can be, life seems unbearable," he said. "But if you fight and love and have hope, you can be unbeatable."

For more information on Unbeatable: A Musical Journey, visit www.journeyprojects.com.

Plain Dealer 6-9-07

THEATER
Musical on cancer staged at Playhouse
Saturday, June 09, 2007

Tony Brown
Plain Dealer Theater Critic

A musical based on the life of a former patient at University Hospitals' Ireland Cancer Center is getting a developmental staged reading this weekend in Cleveland before an expected transfer next fall to an off-Broadway theater in New York.

"Unbeatable: A Musical Journey," which chronicles Laurie Frey's yearlong battle with breast cancer and was read previously at Arizona's Phoenix Theatre, opens tonight, but all tickets for that show are gone. It also will be staged at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday in the Studio Theatre of Playhouse Square's Idea Center.

With a script by Cleveland Heights writer Eric Coble and a score by the Los Angeles-based team of Todd Schroeder and Kevin Fisher, it's directed by Phoenix Theatre Artistic Director Michael Barnard.

The Cleveland reading is the first entry in Playhouse Square's new "Launch" program.

.....for the off-Broadway version .....Frey is lead producer. The general manager, Kathryn Frawley, managed "Here Lies Jenny," which starred Bebe Neuwirth off-Broadway.

Although casting for the New York version is under way, several of the performers in the reading are among Cleveland's best, including Tracee Patterson and Nick Koesters in the leading roles.

Other cast members include husband-and-wife team Greg Violand and Maryann Nagel, Tina Stump, Lissy Gulick, Frank Kosik and Tricia Bestic.

Admission is free. Tickets are available at the State Theatre box office in Playhouse Square, or by calling 216-619-2380.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

tbrown@plaind.com, 216-999-4181