Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan Announces BROADWAY'S BEST FOR PARKINSON'S: WHEN PD ENTERS A RELATIONSHIP

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (MMJCCM) announces the lineup for Broadway's Best for Parkinson's: When PD Enters the Relationship, a free in-person event, with virtual streaming option, on Wednesday, May 24 at 6:00 PM. The final Broadway's Best event of the season will feature a panel of experts on how Parkinson's impacts a relationship, from intimacy to balancing needs of care partners, to communication strategies, and even the importance of dance in a relationship.

The experts joining the panel for May's Broadway's Best for Parkinson's include David Loud, Broadway actor, musical director, arranger (vocal arrangements: New York, New York), and author, who is living with Parkinson's; Rebecca Gilbert, M.D., chief scientific officer, American Parkinson's Disease Association (APDA); and Gloria Lebeaux, LCSW, director of social work services at the Barry + Florence Friedberg JCC.

Moderated by Caroline Kohles, MMJCCM senior program director of Health + Wellness, the evening will feature a movement segment with David Leventhal, program director of Dance for PD, who will demonstrate how to improve communication and connection through dance. This will be followed by a conversation with and musical performances by Broadway actor Matt Castle and his husband: director, musical arranger, and actor Frank Galgano, who are two years into their PD journey. There will be additional musical performances by David Loud's Manhattan School of Music students Ziyang Zhou and Xavier Cornell. The lively discussion will also feature personal stories from Rhoda Cahan and Sam Rudick, a couple living with PD for nearly a decade.

This free hybrid event is part of a groundbreaking MMCCM Parkinson's program founded 15 years ago to improve the lives of those impacted by Parkinson's. Broadway's Best for Parkinson's: When PD Enters A Relationship begins at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, May 24 at the MMJCCM, in person, as well as online. Registration is recommended for both the in-person and virtual experience.

Broadway's Best for Parkinson's is supported by a community grant from the Parkinson's Foundation. Broadway's Best for Parkinson's is part of the Northwell Health Edmond J. Safra Wellness Initiative at the MMJCCM. The initiative helps improve the lives of those impacted by Parkinson's. Through education, exercise, and other programs, and in collaboration with the medical and local communities, people impacted by Parkinson's remain active, connected, and empowered.

Rhoda Cahan and Sam Rudick. At the time of her retirement, Rhoda headed up a $35 million corporate training division with 350 people reporting to her. She was not planning to spend her next years with Parkinson's disease as a companion, but she is living a very full life without letting Parkinson's define her. She and Sam, a dentist with a six-chair West Side practice, met online. They dated; he disappeared, and called 2-1/2 years later after dialing her number by mistake. He didn't know what to say so he asked her to dinner. They have been married for 15 years, with a combined family of 6 children and 9 grandchildren. On Valentine's Day their doormen voted them the happiest couple in the building.

Matt Castle made his Broadway debut playing Peter (and piano and bass) in John Doyle's 2006 revival of Company. He has appeared in dozens of regional and NYC productions at Roundabout, York Theatre, Papermill Playhouse, Sacramento Music Circus, and Cape Playhouse. As a musical director, Matt has helped develop hundreds of new musicals and reinvented a few classics. Favorite projects include A Strange Loop, (Page 73/Musical Theatre Factory), Into the Woods (Fiasco Theater), Enter Laughing (York), Merrily We Roll Along (Cincinnati Playhouse), The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul (Switchboard Operations), My Life Is a Musical (Perry Street Theatricals), Saint-Ex (Weston Playhouse) and many more at Sundance, NYU, Playwrights Horizons and others.

Frank Galgano has the weird and wonderful opportunity to collaborate almost exclusively with his husband, Matt Castle. The duo specializes in musical arrangements and orchestrations, musical direction and supervision, and writing of book, music and lyrics. They also have their own record label, Brainstorm Records, which recently debuted a six-song EP for Madame Clicquot: A Revolutionary Musical. Frank has directed, produced, and developed numerous musicals, concerts, studio cast recordings, readings, demos and cabarets, including Kris Kringle, the Musical , Pride and Prejudice, the Musical in Concert , Gods of Mischief, Mary: A Musical, and the world premiere of A Dog Story.

Rebecca Gilbert, M.D., is the chief scientific officer at American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA). She is responsible for overseeing the organization's research portfolio, in conjunction with APDA's Scientific Advisory Board, and provides medical and clinical expertise to support programming, web content, and publications. Dr. Gilbert received her medical degree from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Ph.D. in cell biology and genetics from the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Prior to joining APDA, she was an associate professor of neurology at the Fresco Institute for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders, NYU Langone Medical Center, where she initiated and directed the NYU Movement Disorders Fellowship, and participated in clinical trials and other research initiatives.

Caroline Kohles is the senior program director, Health + Wellness, at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. In her 19 years at the JCC, she has spearheaded a progressive slate of fitness programming, creating 100-plus group fitness class schedules and health and wellness programs for populations ranging from tweens/teens to prenatal/postnatal moms and seniors. Her signature work includes developing a range of cancer care programs and she designed the nationally and internationally recognized Edmond J. Safra Parkinson's program at the JCC, now in its 16th year. She is also co-founder of NIA New York, a holistic lifestyle and fitness practice.

Gloria Lebeaux, LCSW, is director of social work services at the Barry and Florence Friedberg JCC in Oceanside, NY, and a trained psychotherapist in private practice. She is an adjunct professor at the Adelphi University School of Social Work and a field instructor for social work students. Gloria was the director of JASA's Long Beach Senior Services, director of NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) Services at the MidIsland Y JCC in Plainview, and the director of Homeshare Long Island at the Family and Children's Association. Gloria has a special interest in the fields of aging and bereavement and in working with individuals with Parkinson's disease and their families.

David Leventhal is founding teacher and program director for Dance for PD, a program of the Mark Morris Dance Group. Dance for PD has been used as a model for classes in more than 300 communities in 25 countries. David has also co-produced five volumes of a successful instructional video series and helped conceive and design Moving Through Glass, a dance-based Google Glass App for people with Parkinson's. He received the 2018 Martha Hill Mid-Career Award, the 2016 World Parkinson Congress Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Parkinson's Community and was a co-recipient of the 2013 Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award from the Parkinson's Unity Walk. As a dancer, he performed in principal roles with the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997-2011.

David Loud is one of Broadway's most respected music directors and vocal arrangers and has the distinction of having originated three roles on Broadway as an actor. He served as music director for The Visit; other Broadway credits include The Scottsboro Boys, Sondheim on Sondheim, Curtains, Ragtime, A Class Act, Steel Pier, and revivals of Porgy and Bess, She Loves Me, Company, and Sweeney Todd. As an actor, he originated the role of Manny in Terrence McNally's Master Class and made his Broadway debut in the original 1981 production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. Off-Broadway, David created the vocal and dance arrangements for Kander and Ebb's And the World Goes 'Round. He was music supervisor for three world premieres: Kid Victory, The Landing, and The Beast in the Jungle, all with music by John Kander. Currently, he is the music director of the Manhattan School of Music's musical theater program, which he helped found in 2017. His book, Facing the Music, a Broadway Memoir, was published in 2022.