“Being disabled my whole life, also being a woman, I was battling with feeling very confined, like I had to prove myself all the time”
Every time I find a new Disabled artist making a name for themselves on stage or on screen, I can't even begin to describe the excitement I feel.
That feeling made an appearance when I stumbled upon this article highlighting Marilee Talkington: a legally blind actor who appeared on Broadway last year.
In the article, Marilee reflects on her journey in the acting industry, sharing her experiences of overcoming challenges and breaking barriers. Originally a psychology major with a math minor at UC San Diego, she stumbled into acting during college.
She details obstacles during auditions as well as the struggles of finding work as a Disabled performer in the theatre world. With her recent Broadway gig, she emphasizes the importance of disabled actors being considered for all roles, not just disability-specific ones.
What hit me right in the feels was Marilee's description of receiving a message from a fan after the show's first preview. A young fan who also has low vision wrote to her: “I've been told that I can't be on stage because I'm low vision and gave up. And then I saw you on stage. And I'm going to go after it now because now I know it's possible.”
Read the entire write-up about Marilee below.
Jeryl Brunner
Thank you for being here. 💚
The Disability Daily-ish delivers Disability arts ephemera and Crip news in bite-sized nuggets to enjoy with your morning coffee. Consider upgrading to a paid plan to help keep this going! We'll send you extra goodies and love along the way.
If you don't like getting daily emails from us, no hurt feelings, you can opt-out by scrolling to the bottom and clicking "manage subscription."
