I am disabled. This is not an easy statement to make. The amount of physical therapy that I’ve done is beginning to rival the amount of psychological therapy I’ve done. I have walked with a cane off and on since my late 20s. I’ve used the wheelchairs at the grocery and Target for years, and now have a wheelchair of my own. I’ve had four surgeries over the past two years to try and keep the use of my hands for things like playing the piano, knitting, crocheting, and typing blogs. Last year, I did all of my High Tea Carolers’ gigs sitting on a portable stool. I have osteoarthritis. Just wear and tear of my joints. All of them. You combine that with fibromyalgia and movement becomes difficult.
When you go shopping and are in a wheelchair, the tendency is for people to overlook you. If I ask a question, I have had the clerks talk to whoever is pushing the chair and not me! So, you can imagine how difficult it can be to perform in a wheelchair. And, yet, on 8 June 2019, Ali Stroker won a Tony award for her role as Ado Annie in the revival of Oklahoma!
Ali has been in a wheelchair since the age of 2 due to injuries sustained in a car crash. While she is the first Broadway performer who is disabled, she is not the first to perform from a wheelchair. That honor, as best I can tell, goes to Marjorie Lawrence in 1941.
Ali has been in a wheelchair since the age of 2 due to injuries sustained in a car crash. While she is the first Broadway performer who is disabled, she is not the first to perform from a wheelchair. That honor, as best I can tell, goes to Marjorie Lawrence in 1941.
Marjorie was a Wagnerian operatic soprano. This means that she had a huge voice with a broad range. She was the first singer to ride a horse into the “flames” at the end of Gotterdammerung as Wagner had intended. She was renowned for her physicality. But in 1941, she was hit with polio, which left her unable to stand or walk. However, this did not stop her. She continued to perform for another six years. She left the stage in 1947 to devote herself to teaching.
Margorie sang some concerts from a chair or from her wheelchair. Usually, for her operatic performances, she would be placed on the stage, sitting on a rock, perhaps, and remain there for the rest of that scene. Rather static, but then, a lot of opera at that time was rather static.
Margorie sang some concerts from a chair or from her wheelchair. Usually, for her operatic performances, she would be placed on the stage, sitting on a rock, perhaps, and remain there for the rest of that scene. Rather static, but then, a lot of opera at that time was rather static.
In July of 2009, soprano Joyce DiDonato was singing Rosina in the Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera House in London when, during the first act, she tripped. Thinking that she had just twisted her ankle, she continued singing. As the act progressed, her ankle began to swell. She had it wrapped and began to lean on furniture and then a stick. Taken to the hospital after the opera, she found out that she had broken her leg. Because of the nature of the break, she was told not to put any weight on the leg for several weeks. But the show must go on. Subsequent performances of the opera had Joyce performing from a wheelchair. Sometimes she propelled herself about the stage and sometimes she was pushed by other members of the cast.
As recently as 2016, Russian soprano Anna Virovlansky was scheduled to make her debut at the Leipzig Opera in Lucia di Lammermoorwhen she pulled two ligaments in her leg. She sang from a wheelchair while the director, in the made-up silent role of Lucia’s dead mother, pushed her about the stage.
What is the single biggest issue with singing from a wheelchair? I would say that it is support. It is difficult to get the proper foundation while in a wheelchair. It just requires a little more concentration and finding the right posture. Difficult, but not impossible.
What makes Ali so special? Well, she has won a Tony award. And she not only sang and acted, but she danced. All at once. You go, girl!
Do you have any wheelchair experiences? Have you ever performed through a disability? I’d love to hear your stories. I’ll be playing some of Ali’s songs as well as some of the other arias that have been sung from a chair on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so please be sure to check them out.
Until next time!
What is the single biggest issue with singing from a wheelchair? I would say that it is support. It is difficult to get the proper foundation while in a wheelchair. It just requires a little more concentration and finding the right posture. Difficult, but not impossible.
What makes Ali so special? Well, she has won a Tony award. And she not only sang and acted, but she danced. All at once. You go, girl!
Do you have any wheelchair experiences? Have you ever performed through a disability? I’d love to hear your stories. I’ll be playing some of Ali’s songs as well as some of the other arias that have been sung from a chair on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so please be sure to check them out.
Until next time!
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