“This is all a gift.”

Local actor Alan Sader, most famous for being the national spokesperson for the former Christian Children’s Fund (now ChildFund International), is talking about the unexpected length of time he’s been alive.

“All of the time that I have now is a gift,” he continues. “And I absolutely have to share it.” Sader’s way of giving back is to offer a weekend of staged readings with some of his favorite local actors called “A Few More for the Road” this weekend at Richmond Triangle Players (RTP).

Initially hit with a cancer diagnosis last March, Sader was doubly rocked a few months later when his oncologist said the cancer had spread from his bladder to his liver.

“It all changed,” he says. “At that point, it became incurable. Not untreatable, but when we talked about how long do I have, his exact words words were: ‘days, weeks, months, a year or a year and a half.’”

Coming on the heels of the death of his wife, artist Ann Chenoweth, who passed away last July, the prognosis threw Sader into a tailspin. “I was probably clinically depressed,” Sader remembers. “All I did, I just did nothing.”

What eventually pulled Sader back from the brink was a call from another local actor, Joe Pabst, asking him to do a play reading at Firehouse Theatre this past March. “I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to do anything,” says Sader. “But then I thought, you know, Joe is someone I’ve never been in a show with and I would really love to work with this guy.”

Overcoming his reluctance, he did the reading and found the enthusiastic audience feedback energizing. “I got in the chair and I felt myself coming back,” he says.

He came out of the experience wanting more. “That was the turning point for me,” Sader says. “I started thinking there’s a bunch of other people I’ve never worked with. I thought, ‘I have a purpose now.’”

But as excited as he was, he knew he needed help to fill out his vision. He turned to local actor, playwright and author Irene Ziegler for an assist.

“I had emailed Alan after the reading saying he seemed so happy to be up there,” remembers Ziegler. “He emailed me back saying he had this idea, would I be willing to help. I said ‘yes’ right away of course.”

The original idea was to do something small, perhaps just for friends, but the scope grew quickly. “It eventually turned into what is now a big production with RTP on board, which we’re all thrilled about,” Ziegler says.

Zeigler’s job was to find appropriate scenes to perform while Sader took the lead in inviting actors. “We needed a two-hander with a senior actor and one other actor where the piece was complete to itself,” she says. “I didn’t want to do something that didn’t have a beginning, middle and an end.”

Sader’s biggest challenge was that some people he wanted to invite because he admires them are also loved by local directors. “I’m fantasizing about ‘who do I want’ but what was harder is ‘how do I get them,’” he says. “These are working actors who don’t always have spots open on their calendar.”

The final series of scenes will pair Sader with Joe Inscoe, Eva DeVirgilis, Dean Knight, Erich Appleby, actor / director Jan Powell and Ziegler.

Saved by theater

Sader himself had never expected to be a working actor. He did theater while attending Duke University but just for fun, originally planning to be a doctor like his father. After graduating, he worked as a teacher and a factory worker before starting a dinner theater in Norfolk.

His big break came when he joined the cast of the soap opera “Another Life,” which was filmed in Virginia Beach starting in 1981. Parts in other TV shows and films followed before he was called on to be the face – and famously sonorous voice – of Christian Children’s Fund in 1992.

He appeared in commercials for the Richmond-based nonprofit for decades, one as recently as 2016, while also repping local brands like Farm Fresh and Haynes Furniture.

Sader has made regular appearances on local stages, playing iconic roles like “King Lear” in 2011 and most recently starring in “Uncle Vanya” for Richmond Shakespeare in 2023.

The best news related to this upcoming production is that Sader’s health has dramatically improved. “I’m on an immunotherapy drug that is kind of a miracle,” he says. “It’s been extending people’s lives by months and years and that’s what’s happening with me. I actually feel good. I’m weak but gaining strength back.”

In addition to the treatment he’s receiving, Sader says his unexpected vocation has ended up reviving him.

“This thing that was given to me, that allowed me to live my life as an actor, came back, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and said, ‘you’re not done yet.’

“Theater and acting, I can say almost literally, it’s saved my life.”

“A Few More for the Road: Alan Sader’s Bucket List” will be performed at Richmond Triangle Players, July 20th (2pm) and 21st (1pm). The performances are free but reservations are required. Go to https://rtriangle.org/ and click on “Get Tickets Now” for tickets.