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Show i mfe&St PAGE 6 MONDAY, JULY 28, 2008 EDITOR I Elyssa Andrus 344-255- 3 eandrusheraldextra.com CONCERT REVIEW ABBA cover band sounds golden at SCERA Shell " Cody Clark DAILY HERALD Shhh! Don't tell the fire marshal! Attendance at the ABBA concert at SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre in Orem on Thursday was literally over the top, spilling slightly past the rounded crest of the amphitheater's deep bowl, with concertgoers standing all along the furthest edge of the it? RICH SUGGKansas City Star Jennifer Smith, recently engaged to Greg English, chose to freeze an ovary to preserve fertility during chemotherapy. .Pteservnig Doctors give cancer patients greater chances for having children lit Alan Bavley percent of patients in this age group are becoming cancer survivors. Many want to start MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS ennifer Smith always knew she wanted to have a house full of children someday. But two months ago, a diagnosis of breast cancer threw that plan into serious jeopardy. Smith's cancer was aggressive. She had to start chemotherapy right away. And the cancer-killin- g drugs could damage her ovaries, drastically reducing her chances of ever becoming pregnant. So the Roeland Park, Kan., woman decided to take a chance on an but promising experimental procedure freezing one of her ovaries. If it's successful, she may be able to have children of her own in the future. Not many years ago, Smith wouldn't have had this option. Her doctor may not have even told her that her fertility was at risk. But Smith is benefiting from a revolution in cancer care some are calling it "oncofertil-ity- " that is making fertility preservation a priority for patients who want to have children. The stakes are huge: About 140,000 people under age 45 are diagnosed with cancer each year. With improved treatment, more than 70 families. But the strength of some chemotherapy is increasing, and radiation is being used more aggressively. Lives are being saved, but many patients are left infertile. Before undergoing chemotherapy, Smith had one of her ovaries surgically removed and its tissues frozen at the University of Kansas Hospital. There the pieces of ovary will remain, suspended in liquid nitrogen at minus 321 degrees, until yars later when doctors are sure Smith is canceMree. When Smith is ready, Saftwel Kim, a fertility expert at KU, will implant The tissue under her skin. If all goes well, the tissue will start producing eggs. "I am just being very hopeful," Smith said. "If you want your own children, you do whatever Is necessary to make it happen." Men have always been able to freeze their sperm before undergoing cancer treatment, although they may not always have been informed of that option in the past. More recently, fertility technologies have improved to the point where women now have several options, from in vitro fertilization See FERTILITY, I am just being very hopeful. If you want your own children, you do whatever is necessary to make it happen." Jennifer, Smith, cancer patient B5 crowd to get their heads high enough for a view of the action. I don't recall ever seeing a larger throng at the multipurpose Shell, and I've certainly never seen a even casual ABBA happier one fans, if there were any in attendance, couldn't have missed the good vibrations. ABBA, the 70s Swedish supergroup that stopped recording and performing in 1982, was only indirectly responsible, actually. It was their lyrics, their music and even their costumes that whipped the crowd into a frenzy, but the outstanding performance was by Swedish tribute band Arrival (which takes its name from the ABBA album that introduced the world to "Dancing Queen"). With a large backing ensemble including guitarist Finn Sjoberg, who backed the real ABBA for four years at the height of their popularity the Arrival quartet provided a genuine thrill for everyone who ended their Pioneer Day crammed together on the Shell's grassy slopes. Arrival has actually been performing ABBA songs in concert for longer 13 years and than ABBA did so counting maybe it shouldn't be surprising that Jftey're'ye, rfi very good at what they do. V Still, it's hard to escape the slightly goofy, loftily disdainful stigma of listless copy catting that attaches itself to tribute bands generally, ,so there were probably plenty of spectators who began the show daring, if not demanding, that the performers convince them of something. I don't think very many people felt that way by the end of the, group's set and three-son- g encore this stuff was way, way better than even a straight run through "ABBA Gold," the original group's definitive Greatest Hits compilation, could ever be. Arrival warmed the crowd up with a nice selection of (slightly) lesser-know- n ABBA songs, whipped out an early ABBA instrumental track after the fourth song of the evening, and then stomped on the accelerator with the international smash "Fernando." After that it was one Disco Era sensation after another, huge hits like "S.O.S.," "The Winner Takes It All," "Chiquitita," "Mamma Mia" (lots of references throughout the night to the current Universal Pictures movie version of the ABBA stage musical) and "Take a Chance on Me." The playing was tight all night long, but what you really have to nail for something like this to work is the vocals. My wife, Heather, is the real aficionado in See Kids run off to join the circus, but just for the summer months John Curran Each June, a new class of talented young entertainers shows up at the converted dairy farm with the Fourteen-year-ol- d circus tents, where veteran circus GREENSBORO, Vt. Thula Martin knows exactly what coaches get three weeks to build a show she'll say if her teacher asks the class around them before the troupe hits the what they did this summer: "I ran away road for a tour of and joined the circus." New England and New York. Founded by a former circus clown, She did, sort of: Thula, a ninth grader from Pahoa, Hawaii, is one of 30 teenit's named after the comment made by his mother, after he ran off to join a agers from around the world spending their summer performing in Circus circus at age 19 ("Circus, smirkus, get Smirkus, a youth circus that barnstorms a job."). the Northeast each summer, showcasRob Mermin decided other teenagers should have the same experience, and acrobats, jugglers and ing school-age- d clowns under a one-rin- g big top. pitched his tents on an eight acre hillside It's not the greatest show on earth, deep in northern Vermont, near the but it may be the youngest: In this cirborder. cus, everyone in the ring is between 14 Twenty-onyears later, Circus and 19 years old. It's like summer school Smirkus still has 'em laughing in the with greasepaint. aisles, and the circus business is full of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS two-mon- th e . c its graduates. "It's intense, but it's nice because you have all these other people doing the same thing as you, so it kind of pushes you to work harder and get better," said Shea Vaccaro, 16, an acrobat and clown from Wilton, N.H. "And the coaches are great. They push you, but it's to the good point." Up to 400 children a year apply for spots in Circus Smirkus, and the ones accepted pay $4,250 for the privilege. Most have been performing since they were toddlers. All get the same treatment once they take rugged Circus Road through the woods to the grassy encampment at the end, where the center of operations barn and is a ramshackle See B5 ARRIVAL, Student Thula Martin from Pahoa, Hawaii, . ... ' practices her routine at Circus Smirkus under the big top in Greensboro, Vt, on June 24. Smirkus is a youth circus that barnstorms the Northeast each summer, showcasing school-age- d acrobats, jugglers and clowns under a one-rinbig top. TOBY TALBOT Associated Press CIRCUS, B5 H3 .V |