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From
The New York Times:
After a nationwide search, the producers of the coming Broadway revival of “The Miracle Worker” have cast a vision-impaired 10-year-old as the understudy for the role of Helen Keller, to the delight of advocates for disabled actors who were concerned about the choice of a seeing, hearing actress to play Helen.
Kyra Ynez Siegel of Eugene, Ore., landed the understudy job after flying to New York two weeks ago for an audition. That involved working with a fight choreographer on movement techniques for an early scene in which Helen and her new teacher, Annie Sullivan, battle over a doll.
After an injury when she was 9, Miss Siegel, who will become one of the few disabled actresses working in a major Broadway production this season, can see only shapes and colors out of her right eye, she said in an interview by e-mail. She can see well out of her left eye.
“It is very challenging to use both my eyes together,” she wrote in the e-mail message. “It makes me sad sometimes, but I don’t care because I try not to think about it. Sometimes your dreams get crushed but you just keep going.”
While casting understudies is rarely a newsworthy event, the selection of Miss Siegel stands out because of an unusual pledge that the lead producer of “The Miracle Worker,” David Richenthal, made last month amid complaints about his choice of a star actress, Abigail Breslin, an Oscar nominee in 2007 for “Little Miss Sunshine,” to play Helen.
Ms. Breslin, who is 13, can see and hear. Some advocacy groups, like the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, said that a blind or deaf actress would give the character of Helen greater authenticity and that disabled performers were overlooked generally.
In response, Mr. Richenthal said he would make a concerted effort to audition deaf or blind actresses as Ms. Breslin’s understudy. But he also emphasized that in the end, his choice would be based on acting ability.
Mr. Richenthal ended up working with Sharon Jensen, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, to contact actors and theater companies nationally to identify young actresses with disabilities. Among them was Miss Siegel, who had actually played Helen in an Oregon community theater production in October, with her mother in the role of Annie.
The producers ultimately saw several dozen actresses between 8 and 16, several of whom had disabilities. “Kyra gave the best audition, showing real acting talent and physical skill and physical stamina,” Mr. Richenthal said in an interview. “We were aware she had significant vision loss, but I can’t say that influenced us one way or another.
“I’m pleased we found a brilliant young actress as a result of this outreach,” he added, “but I don’t want to pretend this is a perfect solution for the community of deaf and blind actresses.” Previews for the show begin at Circle in the Square in February.
Ms. Jensen, of the alliance, said she was thrilled with the choice of Miss Siegel. “I’ve been so impressed by David’s efforts to really hear and understand our concerns, and to go the distance in finding a young actor who is not only very talented but also can keenly understand some of what Helen faced,” Ms. Jensen said.
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.
Miss Siegel, meanwhile, said she was “nervous and excited at the same time” about being the understudy to Ms. Breslin, whom she called “amazing.” She said she jumped up and down when she heard about her selection and celebrated by having a Brie cheese pizza and calling her grandparents.
“Performing on Broadway was one of my dreams, but I never thought it would come true,” she wrote.
From The New York Times:
