Los Angeles Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy highlights an upcoming performance by the Born To Act Players, a 32-member troupe of actors with and without disabilities that will be performing this month in a professional theater for the first time.

An excerpt:

Before they walk on stage, the Born to Act Players close their eyes and take a few deep breaths to relax.

“Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better,” chant these fine actors and actresses with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities. “I am talented. I am creative. I am beautiful.”

Then they take the stage and knock the socks off the audience. They are that good.

… If you’ve already attended one of their shows over the years, you know how inspirational and enlightening they are – tearing down stereotypes and misconceptions about the disabled community.

In the Washington Post, a review by Nelson Pressley of “Inside/Out . . . Voices From the Disability Community,” which played last weekend at the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater. The show featured seven people with disabilities testifying about their lives.

The approach was quick and dry — sentences tended to be short and factual — yet the performance was consistently powerful and eye-opening. Don’t know much about Moebius syndrome? Meet Matthew S. Joffe (standing at right, above), who explains its effects (his face can’t move), and describes his fears and successes as he’s lived with it…

… Every so often, one performer asked another, “What does disability mean to you?” The responses were personal and sometimes surprising, and the question compelled viewers to consider for themselves in the wake of the show’s coolly shared, sharply rendered lives.

The show was presented by VSA Arts, a nonprofit organization. Their website is here. (VSA arts photo in the Washington Post)

From the Chicago Daily Herald:

An upcoming Chicago-area production of Disney’s “High School Musical” will feature 25 people with Down syndrome among the 40-member cast.

While the original movie aims to break down social stereotypes and cliques, this presentation tackles breaking down perceptions of people with disabilities.

The idea is one that has drawn great interest. Its four shows sold out in one week, nearly a month before its opening performance on April 11.

“Our goal is one of integration,” says the play’s director. “We want people of all abilities working alongside each other.”

The concept starts at the top, with Nick Lamore, 13, of Streamwood playing Troy opposite Moira Morgan of Chicago, who plays Gabrielle, and has Down syndrome.

All but 5 of 41 cast members have developmental disabilities, but each one feels ‘Footloose’

An intimate and perceptive piece by Drew Jubera in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about a local theater production starring people with intellectual disabilities.

Some quotes to ponder:

“I’m a bagger by morning, an actor at night.” Katie Rouille, 27

“A lot of people say I can’t do something, and I just say I can. I’m determined that way.” Cynthia Outman, 31, who has Down syndrome

“I do it for the same reason real actors do it: to get away from who I am and be someone else. It’s challenging every day to do things. But this shows people with disabilities ‘you can do it.’ Linda Danzig, 57

“These are the people behind the bakery counter in Publix or bagging your groceries who you may not have noticed until they came here and are under the lights. It does for them what theater does for anybody. The shy checkout girl who takes a theater class and finds her voice.” Kim Goodfriend, the theater’s founding producer

“There are more similarities than differences. Every actor is sensitive. They’re ripping their chest cavity open and exposing themselves to failure. ” Dina Shadwell, the theater’s director

It’s on HBO tonight, 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times, 7 Central.

Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times:

… the story of a group of autistic children puttin’ on a show blows open not only the definition of “normal” but its relevance. You will watch the final credits struck to the heart by the incalculable and invaluable variations of human experience.

(more…)

Lisa Hammond in a recent production of ‘The Hanging Man’

At four feet tall, playing a fairytale heroine is a big challenge, Lisa Hammond tells critic. Not that that will stop her …

By Brian Logan in the [London] Times:

Lisa Hammond, considered one of the best and funniest actresses in England, is also one of the smallest. Her career has been dedicated to flouting expectations of the roles an actor her size might play. She’s now playing an unconventional Beauty in a stage production of Beauty and the Beast.

In an interview with the Times critic, Hammond talks about challenging expectations, the use of stereotypes in theater, and her rejection of roles in which she would portray “a height and not a character. To some people, you’re not a human and you aren’t an actor. You’re just a height. I’m not prepared to be that.”

Hammond is painted as an “idealist” who

continues the fight because “disabled actors are still where black and Asian actors were ten years ago. And for smallness, we are 20 years behind.”

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