Just read the news that The Miracle Worker starring Abigail Breslin and Allison Pill is going to close next Sunday. It didn’t get the greatest reviews, but a friend who saw it said the audience was full of girls who adored it.
I think it was hard to get people to flock to this show even with the whole “girl power” thing going for it. It would have been great if people could have seen it as this year’s Wicked. But there are no flying witches, no great musical numbers and it’s an especially hard sell when the star doesn’t talk.
But it’s still sad when one of the only shows that is about girls and women can’t cut it on Broadway especially because women are the ones who buy the lion’s share of tickets.
On a side good note, Next to Normal an unlikely Broadway success because it is also about a tough subject, mental illness, has recouped its investment. Huge big deal.
Closing Date for the Miracle Worker (NY Times)
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This production was very heavily criticized by disability rights groups because they so badly wanted a star to play Helen that they wouldn’t consider casting an actress who was deaf or blind. I wonder how much that controversy affected its success, and whether having a star really helped them at all in the end.
Links for reference: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/advocacy-group-opposes-miracle-worker-casting-choice/
http://disabledfeminists.com/2009/11/05/and-if-this-keeps-up-there-wont-be-any/
I haven’t read the play, so I have no idea what it’s like. Given how long ago it was written, it could be dreadfully patronising by today’s standards.
I do think that audiences would have been more interested if they’d hired an actual disabled person to play Keller. Crip drag is so old, but a real crip would make it new again. (And I’d exploit my own disabilities if it would get me work, even in such a situation.)
Sadly, there is always a reason not to hire disabled people. For any job.
Anemone, it’s NOT patronizing. I played Helen Keller in this play (when I was 13) and it was one of the best experiences in my life.
I’ll read the play when I get a chance. I just keep being disappointed by the way disabled people are portrayed, so I don’t expect much.
Ok, I’ve read the play, and while I can see why people like it, at the same time it’s the same old “miracle recovery” trope. I have no idea how blind/deaf people feel about it in general (individual opinions will of course vary as always), but I think we could have more stories about disabled people doing something other than being disabled.
More disturbing, this is the kind of story they tell about autistic people today, while simultaneously ignoring the way autistic people prefer to communicate. And when you ignore the way autistic people prefer to communicate and use these methods to get us to conform, it’s abuse. So from my point of view the story is out of date and problematic.
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