We Need Your Help: The Wendy Overly Cancer Support Fund
Wendy Overly has been a beloved member of The Gamm Theatre for nearly 20 years. A tremendous talent, great collaborator, and dear friend to many, we share the following in the hopes that our community can come together to help in her time of need.
At the beginning of August, Wendy was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bile Duct Cancer (Colangiocarcinoma). Wendy is currently weighing her treatment options. Unfortunately, this cancer is rare, aggressive, inoperable and incurable.
Wendy is an accomplished artist: actor, director, dialect coach, teacher, quilter, baker and entrepreneur who currently works throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Anyone who knows or has worked with Wendy is aware of her profound love of our craft and of those who share in the process. A Resident Actor at The Gamm, Wendy was most recently onstage this past January as Roberta in Admissions .
Other notable roles at The Gamm include Hannah in King Elizabeth , Eunice in A Streetcar Named Desire , Woman 1 in The Big Meal , Mag in The Beauty Queen of Leenane , Grace in Grace , Bessie in Awake and Sing , Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children , and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof .
Apart from The Gamm, Wendy was directing In the Next Room at Burbage Theatre Company when it closed due to COVID. She directed You Got Older at Wilbury Theatre Group in 2019 and has collaborated with artists from Epic Theatre Company, WomensWork, and beyond.
There will be unknown medical costs and the likelihood that Wendy will be unable to return to work. To that end, a GoFundMe campaign has been established collectively by several Rhode Island theaters, including The Gamm. The campaign aims to help lighten that load so that Wendy and her family can focus on her treatment and symptom management. If you are inclined, your kind donation will go directly to Wendy and her husband Bill to help deal with the financial repercussions of her illness and allow them to focus on the remaining time they have left together.
From all of us at The Gamm, we thank you sincerely for considering becoming part of Wendy’s support network.
