Bill Salem came to the USA in 1965 with $10.00 in his pocket. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war and as a drill sergeant trained two thousand soldiers who were shipped to Vietnam. He personally did not go due to a serendipitous and completely unforeseeable capriciousness of Fate that caused a last-minute revocation of his orders. After his return to civilian life, he went back to work for the company that employed him prior to his military duty. Ten years later he was on the street without a job and with only $52 in his pocket. Within four weeks he started a consulting company and succeeded in becoming one of the foremost consulting engineers in the gas industry. He retired in July 2021. His challenging, insightful and ultimately uplifting story is told in his book "Cairo to California, From Visualization to Realization." You can get the book on Amazon. But you can meet the man in person and hear his powerful story for one day only in a special Santa Monica Playhouse Benefit Series presentation. Post-show Q & A talk back, wine and dessert reception and book-signing are included in price of admission. From Cairo to California is not based on a true story. It is a true story – every word. The Santa Monica Playhouse Benefit Series is an innovative program that presents extremely limited engagements of new and developing works by emerging and renowned local, national and international artists. Solo shows, concerts, spoken word and poetry nights, dance evenings, performance art and full productions, give voice to new material and artists whom audiences might not otherwise have the chance to experience. Santa Monica Playhouse, now in its 63rd year of continuous theatrical and educational services to the community, is supported in part by generous grants from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the Ahmanson Foundation, the Rotary Club Foundation and Playhouse PALS.