13-year-old actress Abigail Breslin has been cast to play Helen Keller in the Broadway revival of “The Miracle Worker” set to debut this winter. The news of the casting decision has been met with extreme opposition by blind and deaf advocacy groups, who feel the role should be filled by someone afflicted by Keller’s disabilities.
David Richenthal, the show’s producer, has said he simply wanted a star to play the role to ensure the show’s success, and was unable to find any well known deaf and/or blind child actors. Breslin surely brings the star power- she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Olive in “Little Miss Sunshine.”
“We do not think it’s okay for reputable producers to cast this lead role without seriously considering an actress from our community,” Sharon Jensen, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, told the New York Times. “I understand how difficult it is to capitalize a new production on Broadway, but that to me is not the issue. There are other, larger human and artistic issues at stake here.”
Similar controversy occurred in early October, when director Doug Hughesand of the New York Theater Workshop hired a hearing actor to play deaf character Singer in the upcoming production of “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” Ms. Jensen’s group also publicly opposed the casting.
Of course David Richenthal has the right to cast whomever he feels will ensure the success of his show, but should his moral obligation to support the very people his show is centered on take precedent over the money? Because really, how can any deaf/blind children become well known enough to have any star power if no one is willing to give them a chance?
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Reflections Through a DeafLens
November 11th, 2009 - 11:12:51 AM
[...] iVillage, Entertainment, more on the casting of a hearing person in the role of Helen Keller. The Kidglue story adds that Blind people are also [...]