On and Off-Stage Experiences: Stories of Accessibility on Broadway

On Stage: The Importance of Disability Representation in Broadway Shows

Just as Broadway has needed to relook at which groups are being excluded from its audiences, Broadway has also needed to relook at which performers are being excluded from its stages. While stories about characters with disabilities are not uncommon, from William Shakespeare’s Richard III to Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie to Simon Stephens’ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, unfortunately instances of disabled actors being cast in disabled roles have been rare. Instead, we’ve seen Daniel Radcliffe in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man. In film, we’ve seen Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, and Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything (2014).

The disabled community and its allies have been calling for better representation for disability on stage and on screen. In a New York Times article, Ryan O’Connell, an actor with cerebral palsy and creator of the Netflix series Special, calls Hollywood out for “profiting off the stories of marginalized people without giving them the actual opportunities.” He also impresses that disabled people are more capable than most think; he’s tired of seeing disabled people infantilized. In the same article, Madison Ferris, who has used a wheelchair since she was 19, discusses her performance in a revival of The Glass Menagerie at the Belasco Theatre in 2017. She describes the audience’s shocked reaction to the moment she gets out of her chair and pulls herself up a short flight of stairs – an everyday activity for her, but one that surprised audiences who didn’t expect her to be able to do it. The tendency for producers and directors to underestimate disabled actors is a barrier to actors being offered more roles. Anthony Michael Lopez, a disabled actor who starred in Camelot (2023) on Broadway, and is currently performing in the 2024 Broadway revival of Our Town said in an article for Broadway News, “One of the things I’ve had to request [in my career] was that people do not underestimate my ability. If somebody assumes I can’t do something, I have to say, ‘Hey, going forward, I will tell you if I’m not comfortable doing something; you focus on trying to make the play as good as possible.’”

At the same time, producers must also be willing to step up and accommodate diversity on their sets. It’s been proven that diversity leads to better performance, and having a successful, diverse team means accommodating differences. In her article “It’s Time to ‘Crip Up’ the Theatre Industry” Abbie Anderson calls for an overhaul of current theater-making practices, and proposes a new, “disability-first” blueprint. She argues that accessibility should be an organic element of all productions from the start, not something that’s forced in only when a disabled actor is cast. Anderson shares the discomfort people with “invisible” disabilities face when needing to ask for an accommodation. Some choose never to disclose their disability for fear of being seen as demanding. They suffer through the production instead, putting their health at risk to avoid being a bother. She asks what it would look like if directors took the initiative to ask the cast whether they require any accommodations, and made it clear they want everyone to have what they need to give their best performance. Anderson argues that accommodating disabilities is not a charitable act. She emphasizes that disabled actors bring unique perspectives and add layers to a performance. When a show has a diverse cast, and the right environment for the whole team to do their best work, everyone benefits.

When more disabled actors are cast in shows, more disabled audience members are given the chance to see themselves reflected on stage. This has a profound impact, especially for children, who are able to see people they identify with included in stories, or even in positions they might aspire to themselves. It sends a powerful message of inclusion, whereas the lack of representation contributes to a sense of invisibility. Lopez said that before Camelot he had “given up on the idea” that he would be in a Broadway musical simply because he hadn’t seen performers with disabilities “in big prestigious shows.” Marilee Talkington, who starred alongside Lopez in Camelot and is legally blind, has also discussed her thoughts of giving up, saying, “I didn't see anybody like me and still don't see anybody like me. I thought, maybe I'm not meant to do this.” Fortunately, she went on to determine, “If the world isn't going to have a vision for me, then I have to create a vision for myself.” Performances like Lopez’s and Talkington’s have the power to inspire and provide confidence for countless others hoping to achieve similar goals.