Girl with impaired vision is ‘Miracle Worker’ understudy
December 9th, 2009
From the New York Times:
Producers have cast a 10-year-old with a vision impairment as the understudy for the role of Helen Keller in the upcoming production of “The Miracle Worker” on Broadway. The production had drawn criticism last month for casting a non-disabled star actress, Abigail Breslin, in the role.
In response to advocates’ protests, lead producer David Richenthal launched a nationwide search to find a deaf or blind actress to work as Breslin’s understudy. With the help of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, he found Kyra Ynez Siegel of Eugene, Ore., who lost most of the vision in her right eye after an accident.
Mr. Richenthal has also decided to offer audio and caption devices, known as D-Scriptive and I-Caption, free to blind, low-vision, deaf or hard-of-hearing audience members. The technology, which cost the production about $30,000, is in line with an effort by some Broadway producers to start offering such help to audience members.
See also:
Eugene girl wins Broadway understudy role — AP/Oregonian
(New York Times photo)
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December 10th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
This is the first time I have been moved to write about an item here.
Hooray for audio description and caption devices, and for having an actor with visual impairment playing Helen Keller.
(What about Miss Sullivan and other important people?)