Voices of Hope Prepares for 17th Annual Fall Gala!
September 7, 2025
Voices of Hope prepares for 17th annual Fall Gala
‘We are creating worlds without cancer for family after family’
By PETER CURRIER | pcurrier@lowellsun.com | Lowell Sun
ANDOVER — In the main hall of the Ballard Vale United Church Thursday evening, dozens of vocalists and cast members for Voices of Hope practiced as a group, singing variations of songs from popular shows and movies, like the famous “Pure Imagination” scene from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
For many in the room, their reason for joining the group goes beyond a simple love of theater or singing. It is an outlet for joining the fight against cancer, something that has negatively impacted many of their lives.
VoH was formed in 2009 by Greg Chastain after his mother died following a battle with pancreatic cancer, which happened as Chastain was in the leadup to a local production of “Aida.” It began with what was intended to be a one-off charity concert to raise funds for cancer research, but today, the group has grown, and is preparing to perform for its 17th annual Fall Gala, one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.
The Oct. 4 show will take place at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, with the main feature being VoH’s original production “Myth, Magic & Mystery.”
VoH does two major productions every year. Their spring production typically follows a script for a main book musical, while their Fall Gala is usually something original to VoH.
“We always try to design an evening of music that is both entertaining and has the threads of the things that are so important to VoH, so we can actually do our storytelling and marketing pieces about ‘why VoH?’” said VoH Executive Artistic Director Dana Siegal on the steps of the church Thursday evening.
The production for the upcoming gala consists of a series of large ensemble performances, starting with “The Impossible Possible Song,” which Siegal said centers around the idea of turning “thinkers of the impossible into believers in the possible.”
“Now, our mission is very unbelievable,” said Siegal of VoH. “Voices of Hope has a vision of a cancer-free world, and most people will tell us that is just impossible. We don’t believe that.”
The overarching goal of VoH is a tall order, Siegal acknowledged, so much so that she said it may not even be achieved within our lifetimes, but VoH has nonetheless assisted in making tangible progress toward that goal.
Since 2013 VoH has primarily raised money for the Massachusetts General Hospital Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies, and earlier this year surpassed the $1 million mark for money raised for the research center. With the help from those raised funds, the Termeer Center has been able to bring 27 cancer drugs to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 12 years.
“I know every single day we are doing research right now, we are creating cancer-free worlds for people for whom current treatments are changing their stories. They are living with, and now well beyond, cancer diagnoses. We are creating worlds without cancer for family after family,” said Siegal. “And then we will create an entire world without cancer.”
For “Myth, Magic & Mysteries,” Siegal said the music throughout all carries some element of “belief versus disbelief.”
The production will consist of 96 performers on stage, with another 15 or 16 in the orchestra pit and a crew of about a dozen, Siegel said. “So it is well over 100 people invested in creating this,” said Siegal.
Among those in the performance will be North Shore-based Broadway acting couple Matt DeAngelis and Christine Dwyer. DeAngelis has appeared in more than 3,000 performances, including “Hair,” “Rent,” “Waitress,” and the recent Broadway production of “Swept Away.” Along with also appearing in “Rent” and “Waitress,” Dwyer has performed more than 1,000 times across the U.S. as the leading role of Elphaba in the Broadway production of “Wicked.”
Among dozens in the cast is Diane Earley, who has been involved with VoH for about eight or nine years, along with her husband Roy. The Chelmsford couple, Earley said, “found a family” with VoH, which they joined after family members on both sides battled cancer.
“Then, ironically, two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and now I am a survivor,” said Earley. “It always meant a lot to me, but it just means even more, it is just so personal.”
Earley said she plays different roles in 10 musical numbers throughout the night, which she and other cast members have been preparing for since July.
Chastain, speaking in the church lobby Thursday while most of the cast practiced in the main hall, said they are looking forward to this year’s Fall Gala performance, but it comes in a year of mourning for VoH. Earlier this year, VoH marked a first for the group, with former cast member and longtime volunteer Meghan Melo, of Tewksbury, being the first from the group to receive one of the trial cancer treatments made by the Termeer Center with help from VoH’s fundraising. After her battle with breast cancer though, Melo died on June 3.
“It has been a tough summer, but having so many of us together during those times made it so much easier to get through, because we lean on each other,” said Chastain. “It’s more of a family. It is not a theater group, it is not a nonprofit organization, it is a family.”
Chastain said VoH has experienced loss among its members over the years, but the loss of Melo will weigh on the group during the performance next month.
“There will be a lot of sunflowers, that was her thing,” said Chastain. “Sometimes, you kind of forget why you are here. In the middle of the show you’ll think, ‘Oh my God we didn’t do this right, we didn’t do that right’ or whatever. But then you know, we are doing it for this. Sometimes we have to bring ourselves back to why we are doing this.”
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit vohboston.org.
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