city king lion new york
No matter where she is, 11-year-old Shannon Tavarez is never far from the spotlight.
She's performed on Broadway, as the young lion cub Nala in Disney's "The Lion King."
And she's determined to get back on stage.
In April, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. But that hasn't stopped her from singing to friends, family and even for the nurses she sees throughout her many hospital visits.
"Singing just takes me to a whole [other] place," Tavarez said. "I just feel the song so much that it just takes me away...I just love to do it."
Her mother, Odiney Brown, said she still gets goosebumps when her she hears her daughter sing.
"It just brings a certain emotion to you, it's hard to describe," Brown said. "It's hard to believe [the diagnosis], even now. [But] just seeing her strength really makes me feel like, 'ok, we can get through this.'"
Shannon's best chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant, but because blacks "are underrepresented in the national donor registry":http://www.thegrio.com/news/black-community-in-dire-need-of-bone-marrow-donors.php, nearly 85 percent don't find matches after six months of searching.
Shannon's fellow "Lion King" cast members have partnered with "DKMS":http://www.dkmsamericas.org/, the world's largest marrow donor center, to hold a series of drives this month to help her find a donor match.
"Our communities especially, African-American and Latinos, suffer the most," said, Aletha Maybank, a New York City pediatrician. "[These communities are dying the most from cancer because many times [they] don't come forward and donate blood or marrow--and then we don't if there's match at all."
"One recent donor drive":http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/bway-to-hold-drive-for-sick-lion-king-kid-star.php held at New York City's Minksoff Theater attracted nearly 800 new registrants--a clear sign Shannon's story is leading to positive change.
"We want to change the numbers," said Alvin Crawford, an ensemble "Lion King" cast member. "[DKMS] has given us these really depressing statistics about representation in the registries--but Shannon can help us turn things around."
Registering to become a bone marrow donor "requires only a cheek swab":https://www.dkmsamericas.org/bone-marrow-donors/become-marrow-donor, a procedure which takes little to no time.
With so much support around her, Shannon can't help but think what's next in her journey.
"I tell my mom I can't wait [until] this is all over with," Tavarez said. "[Then] I can go back to playing young Nala and being on stage. I'll definitely be a new person when this is all over."
Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins will be performing a benefit concert with Kill Hannah on Tuesday night July 27th at the Metro Chicago . This special show will help raise money to pay for the medical bills of Matthew Leone who was hospitalized with severe brain trauma after intervening to stop a woman he passed on the street from being beaten by her husband. Tickets for this show were distributed in a unique way – a raffle.
As a Chicagoan and lifelong Smashing Pumpkin fan, I decided to purchase two raffle tickets. On Saturday at 2:52 PM I got an email from Pete at Metro Chicago informing me that I had won 2 Smashing Pumpkins tickets! I in no way expected to win and merely thought of the $20 I spent on raffle tickets as a modest donation to a good cause. I have not been this excited to see a concert in a really long time. The Pumpkins both began and ended (albeit briefly) their musical career at the historic Metro. This show will mark the first time in almost 10 years that Billy Corgan and crew will play this intimate venue. If you’re a SP fan there is not a better place to see them live. I have seen the Pumpkins 13 times and I will never forget their last show at the Metro. If the show is half as good I will certainly be in for a treat.
Smashing Pumpkin fans had the ability to purchase raffle tickets for $10 each or could purchase Balcony VIP seats for $100, or VIP Soundcheck tickets for $500. Both VIP ticket packages sold out in minutes as this was the only way to guarantee admission to this benefit concert. All proceeds from the raffle and concert will go to the Matthew Leone Fund at Sweet Relief. Although the raffle is over and the winners of tickets have been announced, you can still contribute to the Matthew Leone Fund at http://www.sweetrelief.org.
The Smashing Pumpkins are also currently on a US tour promoting their new internet album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. According to sources the Pumpkins will be releasing 44 songs over the course of the year and can be downloaded for free at SmashingPumpkins.com. If you were not fortunate enough to win tickets to the SP show at the Metro, below is a list of other tour dates in which you can see them play live!
2010 Smashing Pumpkins Tour Dates
