Nine storytellers share their tales onstage in 'Every Family's Got One'
Nine storytellers will share their tales about family during "Every Family's Got One (a story, that is)" at the Cinema Arts Centre on Oct. 11. Credit: "Every Family’s Got One"
Nine storytellers will share their tales during the first “Every Family’s Got One (a story, that is)” event on Thursday at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington.
The six women and three men, most from Long Island, have written essays about family that other grownups can relate to, including watching a son’s tennis match and seeing him as his own person for the first time, visiting an adult shop with a 70-year-old mother, and helping aging parents, who are hoarders, get rid of things after a flood in their home.
“I always loved hearing people’s crazy stories about their families. They're all really funny and touching,” says Barbara Herel, 54, of Huntington, who is co-producer of the show along with Kathy Radigan, 52, of East Northport. Herel will be reading her own piece about going to confession as a teen. “I got an unexpected reaction from the priest that totally blew my 13-year-old mind away,” she says.
Radigan – whose story is the one about the risqué shop visit -- says the evening’s performance should be a break from the politics dominating the past few weeks. “Talking about families – that unites people," she says.
Lisa Leshaw, 63, of Coram, will perform her piece, “The Tightest Peas in the Pod,” about a grandfather who died when she was 12. “He was the hero of my life,” she says. When she was a chatty child, her teachers identified her talkativeness as a problem. Her grandfather turned the criticism on its head. “He said, ‘Some day your words will be your gift.’ He gave my voice wings.”
The show begins at 7 p.m., and the Cinema Arts Centre is at 423 Park Ave., Huntington. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Find tickets and more information at everyfamilysgotone.com.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
