Media Personality backs book adaptation with 10-episode YouTube series
Entrepreneur, author and Texas Radio Hall of Famer Dayna Steele announced the July 10, 2020 YouTube premiere of her one-woman play, “The Woman in the Mirror.”
“The Woman in the Mirror” is an adaptation of Steele’s 2016 book titled “Surviving Alzheimer’s With Friends, Facebook and a Really Big Glass of Wine,” in which she candidly chronicled her mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s on Facebook with unfiltered observations and occasional dark humor. Originally written for stage performance, the play has since been reworked to a 10-episode video series and filmed as a Zoom table read with co-star Chris King and director Marley Singletary. Each episode will conclude with an interview featuring a subject matter expert on that episode’s topic.
Viewers will be met with Steele’s signature refreshing honesty laced with biting humor that stands testament to her personal strength and resiliency in the face of extraordinary and unexpected circumstances. When her mother, Fran Nicholson, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, Steele began posting Facebook messages detailing the family’s alarming and shocking struggles, which turned into a therapeutic support and information community encompassing thousands of followers.
As a continuation of her humor and raw emotion in navigating a heartbreaking Alzheimer’s journey, Steele uses “The Woman in the Mirror” as an on-stage caregiver’s manual for navigating the disease from diagnosis through an inevitable end, and she does so with love, laughter, wit and wine. Steele extends her compassion for helping families better understand critical issues associated with Alzheimer’s care by incorporating interviews with experts in neurology, long-term care insurance, care-giving, documentation, elder care legal issues and assisted living.
“Throughout my mother’s Alzheimer’s journey, I needed to live, laugh, love, cry and even rage at the disease,” said Steele. “Through this project, the audience is given permission to have those same fluctuating emotions and also to benefit from practical information and the insights offered by subject matter experts.”
“I’m both humbled and grateful to share this incredibly poignant and important story with audiences,” said co-star King. “With more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, Dayna’s candid insight through this 10-episode YouTube video series is sure to touch the lives of countless families and caregivers.”
“The Woman in the Mirror” was written by Dayna Steele with Heather Rossiello, directed and adapted to the stage by Marley Singletary and produced by Steele, Singletary and public relations professional Melissa Stevens, whose husband succumbed to Alzheimer’s in 2010.
Episodes will launch on YouTube at youtube.com/daynasteele every Friday morning at 11:00 CST a.m. beginning July 10 with “Meet Fran” and culminate with “And a Really Big Glass of Wine” on September 11, Fran Nicholson’s birthday.
About Dayna Steele
Dayna Steele is the CEO of JFA INC, managing diverse interests including real estate, Broadway investments, corporate aviation safety consulting, electric urban air and ground mobility projects, and emerging greenhouse gas technologies. She is a longtime successful entrepreneur, professional business speaker, and the author of twelve books. Dayna started the first NASA and space-
themed e-commerce operation, was a top Texas rock radio personality inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 and ran for the US Congress in 2018. She and her husband, former NASA research pilot Dr. Charles Justiz, reside in Houston, Texas. Together, they raise entirely too many rescue dogs.
About Chris King
Chris King is a native Houstonian artist and performer with a San Antonio address and his heart set on New York City.
About Marley Singletary
Marley Singletary (Director/Playwright) is an award-winning director, producer, and writer. She holds a MA in Theatre Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama-University of London and a BFA in Performance from Baylor University. Upon completion of her MA, Marley began her professional directing career in London where she worked for two years. In 2011, Marley
moved to Houston, and in 2012, she began working for Theatre Under the Stars in various roles before becoming the Associate Artistic Director in 2014. While at TUTS, she co-created the new series with a focus in new works, TUTS Underground. She later joined HITS Theatre as the Director of Artistic Production. In 2017, she served as the Producing Executive Director at Queensbury
Theatre where she developed a professional season which included two world premieres and one regional premiere. Marley’s directing credits include: The Music Man (Side Show, For Tonight (World Premiere), Breaking Out of Sunset Place (World Premiere), Elf, Violet, Unlock’d (Regional Premiere), The Sweet Potato Queens (World Premiere), Bonnie & Clyde, Striking 12, First Date,
Footloose, The Evils of Tobacco, James and the Giant Peach, Jr., The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Zombie Prom, and Elf Jr. Her associate directing credits include Oliver, A Christmas Story, Music Man, Waiting for Johnny Depp, Reefer Madness, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Murder Ballad, Elf, Man of La Mancha, and Edward II. Marley will direct the new musical, Greyson
Matters, in London in July 2020. Marley’s upcoming projects include the World Premiere of The Woman in the Mirror (Director/Playwright) and the World Premiere of the new musical LADY OF AGREDA (Director/Bookwriter). Marley is a proud member of SDC.
(This post was taken from a release)
