Jan Williams started a singing and performing group, Showstoppers, when she lived in San Diego. After moving to Utah in 2008, she started the group again, but was taking a break when she was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer on January 1, 2014. In May 2014, after enduring 16 weeks of chemotherapy treatments, 30 former students and their families stood on her porch and sang for her. Williams decided to bring the feeling of joy she felt in that moment to other by creating a theater to not only lighten the load of those with cancer, but also to help pay their bills.
With a partner, Williams opened the Hope Box Theatre in the fall of 2014, starting with the teen Showstoppers program, then her first community musical, "9 to 5," in the spring of 2015.
Each show is dedicated to a cancer patient in the community, with their story broadcast on a television screen. A large Hope Box is passed around to take donations and their name is placed on a "Hope Wall." For the last show, the cast gives a special gift to the family, along with the donations and some of the proceeds from the performance.
| Theater | City |
|---|---|
| Hope Box Theatre | Kaysville |