Don Beyer Alzheimer's Summit with C & S

Former Delegate Karen Darner reached out to Conner & Smith this past week after seeing Kaleidoscope at Creative Cauldron in 2016.  Karen is involved with Alzheimer's advocacy and ALZ.org and invited us to a small meeting with VA State Representative Don Beyer on Friday, January 24.

We discussed the show, Kaleidoscope, which presents music therapy as an asset to one who is losing the capability to remember their life's journey.

After hearing the touching stories of the group about bills for Early on-set,  Representative Beyer agreed to move these motions forward.

Also discussed were the possibilities to hold a regional forum/conference on ALZ that would have Kaleidoscope as an anchor of that conference. We hope that this remains a possibility moving forward, and hope that Kaleidoscope's footprint helps to keep advocacy and education about the disease moving forward in the future.

#ENDALZ
#KALEIDOSCOPE
#CONNERANDSMITH

Matt Conner's 50th Birthday Celebration at Signature Theatre!

Matt celebrated his 50th in style at the Signature Theatre with a concert of his works put together by Stephen. Stephen gathered together a bunch of friends and former castmates on Monday, January 13 in the Signature Theatre's lobby. Robert Aubrey Davis hosted the festivities, which saw performances from Stephanie Waters, Erin Granfield, Karissa Swanigan Upchurch, Kevin McAllister, Dan Manning, Donna Migliaccio, Kara Tameika Watkins, Rachel Zampelli-Jackson, Bayla Whitten Feuerstein, Taylor Witt, Jenny Cartney, Chris Mueller, David Landstrom, Natascia Diaz, and Carolyn Wolfson, and more.

The program focused on the dozen of shows that Matt has written - some with Stephen, some with other partners. It was a gorgeous retrospective of his work and an evening of love from performers and audience members alike.

I know that Matt was moved by this gathering of friends artistic and beyond, and I thank all that made it possible. Here's to the next 50!