[soft music] [upbeat music] - Five, six, seven, and bang.

Use your touch.

- When I brought the idea to Bill's team at the festival, I only ever got support.

Only ever got, we have to... We will make this happen and we have to figure it out.

I don't think, you know, it was the first time OSF have done something like this.

The OSF has had disabled performers but never quite... not as many and certainly not in the same, you know, all in the same show.

And not young people.

- Well, it's my last season as Artistic Director here, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

I've been here for 12 years.

And I am so unbelievably proud that this production of Hairspray is, uh, an anchor and my final season.

Uh, I can't imagine a work of art that more beautifully expresses, uh, everything that this company is about.

Everything that we tried to build.

- There's so many things about this production I love.

But I think the thing I love the most is that out director, Chris Moore, thought I'm going to take inclusivity to the next level.

So, I guess, in a brainstorming session, he thought, why don't we have some differently abled kids in the show?

You know, it talks about it in the script.

Why not?

- The conversation started over a year ago when Chris asked me to be a part of the creative team.

And I was asking about his vision and he talked about how he was really interested in radical inclusivity.

And when he started to talk about wanting to use just bodies of all types.

Then I had this mode of epiphany where I realized that, uh, JFK was doing work on disability at that very same moment of the backdrop of this particular show.

And a lot of it just sort of blossomed from there.

So, I'm sure at this moment, you may be wondering to yourself, why are we doing that?

Why can't we just do Hairspray?

[laughter] But that's exactly the point.

What is the point of just doing Hairspray when we can do Hairspray?

[laughter] [applause] - Hairspray is a show that foregrounds inclusivity that acknowledges and celebrates difference.

That insists, insists, on acceptance and equality.

And that makes joy that rarest of qualities in today's world.

It insists that it is the delicious air that we breathe.

- Listening to him talk about his idea for making Hairspray more inclusive, I was kind of astounded and I was like, oh, like this is really gonna be different.

And him talking about including like the Youth Ensemble and people who are differently abled and making more room for the people of color in the show.

It kinda put me back a little bit because I'd seen Hairspray on TV and I heard what everyone told me.

So, I had this idea that, oh, we're just gonna do that.

Maybe it'll be different.

And when I heard him talk on Soundcloud I was like, wow.

Like, this might actually be really cool.

I think this is gonna be more inclusive than I thought it was.

- This was like a dream that's coming true.

- When did you first dream about becoming a performer?

- When I... - When I was in Project-Project Up and was 11 years old.

- Project Up originally was a program started in Huntsville, Alabama by this woman named Debra Jenkins.

Basically provided classes and performances in summer camps for people with disabilities.

Linda and Zara wanted to start something similar to Mary McCall here in Oregon.

And I got involved because I had a little brother with a disability.

And I also had a lot of experience in theater.

And so, that was the start of it.

Really was organizing all these volunteers and basically putting on a two week camp so that kids and teens with special needs could be a part of the arts and have a chance to be center stage.

- I'm Gabriela and I love singing and dancing in Troy.

[applause] - I have directed Julia a couple of times at OSF.

I first met her when she was 10.

And directed her in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

It's a remarkable thing to meet a... somebody who is much younger than you who feels like a-a-a fellow traveler.

Julia has... was that for me.

And I met her little brother who was this, uh, young boy with, uh, cerebral palsy who, uh, didn't walk, who was in a wheelchair.

And I just became friends with him.

And through his will, his force of will, his desire and his mother's heroic efforts, he walked.

- Yes!

Oh, my God!

- And Jane sent me a video of Luke dancing and when I saw this I just knew that...

I think it was my responsibility to share that in some way.

To share his...

The miracle of who he is and the miracle of what music and dance enabled this-this young man to do.

Which is to get up and walk and to dance.

- Chris Moore approached me last July for a meeting and asked if we could be interested in being in Hairspray.

And what, um, that would look like to... in order to make it doable for Luke given his physical challenges.

The wheelchair is not safe for him.

He's gonna knock it over.

So, we have to get another wheelchair.

He's got more and that's, um...

He's getting an electric one that... a motor that goes on and off.

- Okay.

- But we're gonna have to see if OSF has one and we can make one.

Coz he could easily go over with this right now when he's doing those jumps.

Linda actually back here.

- In the video.

- Watching go... - You know, in the theater there's-there's a lot of wardrobe changes, to be specific, back stage and figuring out, you know, when you're dealing with an able bodied performer.

What that means and the amount of time it takes, I certainly did a lot of, uh, pre-planning in terms of where people would enter and exit with our youth ensemble.

How many costume changes that we could accommodate in terms of the time it would take.

- Just know you are always gonna aim for inside of here.

- Okay.

- To get from stage left to stage right.

- Okay, he just wanted to know.

- And I think it was revolutionary for most of our cast to get to see how many things we do in theater that are just at their very core inaccessible.

And how we can modify those things for everybody's benefit.

Little things like making sure that the stage had ramps.

That we needed to do to make sure that we could get wheelchairs on stage.

You know, making sure that we had a pass through at the back of the stage so that we didn't have to go down to the dressing room level.

And then cross over to the next entrance.

It meant that we saved so much time and energy not having to run up and down stairs or go wait for the elevator which inevitably wouldn't be working.

Right?

Little things that you do in that planning stage, just in building a set, become more accessible for everybody.

Then when you get to dancing and making sure that everyone's doing choreography that they can actually sustain for 10 months.

It's hugely important and you don't think about it when you're building a show.

But when automatically go in to it and say, we need to make sure this is going to be accessible for everybody in the stage, everyone benefits.

- One of the students, Zahra, when she first got on stage and she...

It was her first time rehearsing.

Um, it was...

It was warm.

And one thing she kept reminding us of is that this is my dream.

She just kept saying that, this is my dream.

- What would you like you do after Hairspray is all over?

- Go to New York City and do Hairspray there.

- Yeah, so that again.

Six, seven, we go step clap.

Step, clap.

- There has just been this love.

That's what it is.

It's been this love that's grown between them as cast mates since the beginning.

And we got to... We got like 120 more times to do this show together.

So, it's-it's gonna be fun.

- Thank you, Luke.

Happy opening!

[laughs] - So, how has it been going this process of tech?

- Good.

- Feeling goof about the show?

- Yeah.

- Are you excited about today?

- I'm excited.

- My family.

- Yeah.

My friends.

- Mm-hmm.

And these are friends in the cast too, so new friends.

- My buddies - And Preston.

- Preston.

- Mm-hmm.

- Yes.

- He helps the kids out the most on stage, so Preston's been... - Me.

- And you, and you too, Lori.

He helps out even Luke the most probably.

- I never knew Walker was funny.

I was in a club with him for three years and I never knew he was funny.

He's hilarious.

He does impressions.

He never did that before.

Rory I knew for a very short time but she's one of the sweetest human beings I've ever met in my life.

Zahra has grown in confidence and she's made me laugh, she's awesome.

And then, Luke, is Luke.

And Luke is wonderful.

- Luke is about to start high school in Ashland this year.

You know, having a kid with special needs as a single mom is a very full life.

But then add OSF to it, um, it was a lot.

- Back... over back to that stage right position.

Before we go on our purpose.

- This is a big energy show.

The bar is high.

Uh, but every last person in this cast is up to the challenge.

The show delivers a really big punch.

And the punch is, uh, is well delivered both lyrically and musically.

So, there's a song in he show called You Can't Stop The Beat.

Uh, and the beat is not the rhythm.

Or the drums.

That's a metaphore for the future and for all of us being one.

Everybody.

- The fact this production is happening in my final season, in the same year that, uh, Ali Stoker won her Tony award, uh, for Oklahoma.

Uh, the first performer to use a wheelchair to-to win a Tony award.

Um, I don't think that's coincidence.

I think our field is way behind where we should be.

I think OSF has been behind where we should be but I'm so happy that we're making progress.

And I'm so grateful to the performers and the families of the performers who have been so generous and brave and committed to making this happen.

What a gift.

What a gift to us.

What a gift to our audiences.

- We kinda knew Publy when he was about three years old that he had autism.

And then the time he's been diagnosed uh, we've been through quite a bit of things to-to learn how to accommodate his disability.

You know, it kinda makes you a better father.

- Life for us is complicated, um, great, and fun.

Mostly it's been really worth it because it's really exciting and really fun to see Orianna on stage and to see her excitement about it and to see I think because of the play she's, um, actually really learning, yeah.

- It gave me kind of like a new thing to be, you know, proud of like I'm proud of the work that I can do on stage.

And, um, it gives me something that I'm actually passionate in doing.

And hopefully, I can continue it after I leave here.

I also can remember many times in rehearsals where I would... has like the youngest kid, usually in the cast feel...

I mean, the other actors are very nice but there's a big age gap, you know?

So... You know, it's gonna be nice to have like my little brother right in-in the rehearsal hall to like cheer me up and be a pal and I can just hang out with him when the adults are talking.

- The cast for this show is so representative of our friends, our family, our neighbors.

There's somebody on stage in any given moment that reminds you of someone you love, And I think that the audience is really loving that.

And a lot of times it's the fist time they've seen someone perform in a s... in a musical like this.

You don't get to see disability on stage very often and everybody knows someone with a disability, so it's one those really exciting moments of I never thought I'd get to see my sister on stage.

And hear someone like her performing and singing and dancing.

And that's powerful.

So, not only are we celebrating the good that we as a, you know, as a society have, and that we've... the things that we've done in the past but also they way we can continue to do that in the future by including everybody in the story.

Including everyone.

[upbeat music] - So, when our director Chris said, this is what we're gonna do.

We're gonna have the youth ensemble be a part of this.

We were kind of afraid that we were comparing two different experiences and calling them one.

This issue of segregation isn't being overshadowed.

It's not being pushed away.

Um, it's actually almost being enhanced in a way.

- It is a story about segregation and integration and, um, there has to be black representation.

There just has to be.

Um, and there just isn't enough in the other productions and in OSF's production there was more black representation.

And that's extremely important.

- We've changed a lot in our production.

The ending Link is suppose to get that record contract.

In our production, I get it.

And that's a conscious decision we made because we said this is wrong.

This isn't how it's suppose to go.

So, we have the ability to change it so let's do it.

- When I do the song I know where I've been with the other black people in the cast and I see all these people who don't look like me really understand what we go through stand up and cry and emotionally react and like agree.

So, physically agree with that.

It blows my me away.

Cause I think that's the first time I've ever seen that in my life.

[woman singing] [upbeat music] [applause] It's not just integration of races at the end but it's integration of all people.

- You know that this isn't going to be the Hairspray that you know.

And if you don't learn that in the first number you're going to learn it in the second or you're going to learn it in the third and by the time Act 2 starts, everybody is onboard with what we are trying to do.

And the audience leaping to their feet at the end with You Cant Stop The Beat is a triumphant thing for both us and them and the story.

- I see why people are coming back and singing this four and five times and they bring other people with them because it's so impactful.

Chris Moore took it to-to that next level and included these kids.

Uh, and I know that this show has changed their lives.

But above and beyond that it's changed ours, as the actors, and I think it's changing, uh, the lives of the people that come and see it.

- That's the first time.

- Do that.

- Buts as you see, I-I can place it.

For the moment it's-it's... - When we go around town, before this show, people that didn't know Luke would just stare at him.

And now, people come up and say, hey, I saw you.

So, there's that automatic connection that's happening and the wall is being broken down and people who are scared to talk to a child like Luke are talking to him.

And that is impacting both of them.

Significantly.

- I think one of the most significant things that has happened is that this has been a place where Walker has been acknowledged for his humanity.

A lot of times, people with disabilities are invincible.

They are ignored, dismissed, and sometimes not even acknowledge with a hello or eye contact.

And this environment has been filled with people who everyday say hello to him, greet him, ask him questions, and engage with him.

And he has never had that in his life.

So, for that, I'm eternally thankful to OSF.

- There's gonna be moments in the show where you're still gonna be going, you know, during the show that's wonderful.

Why weren't they on this part?

Why weren't they used as actors as they fully could?

And it's all valid what other patrons and people seeing it will say.

But you can't blame somebody for stumbling on the first step and this was the first step in the right direction of getting to see people like Luke, like Zahra, like Orie and like Walker on stage.

- And I hope that again, other the theatres will see what we've done here and go, we should be doing that.

We should be doing what-what that theatre is doing.

- They are actors and it's like, okay, so when we gone let them be in another play?

This can't be it.

This cannot be it.

They are real actors and they deserve a chance to be on stage again.

And it's like, okay, how can now we start incorporating them as real actors into the plays we produce.

- I was born, uh, totally able bodied, kinda normal child and when I was 16 months old, uh, I tripped and fell when running around my living room.

And broke my spine at the C3.

But because I was young enough when it happened, um, my stem cells were able to repair some of the damage.

So, I started off as a complete quadriplegic when I was 16 months old.

And then as the swelling went down, and as, uh, my stem cells started connecting some of those missing links in my spine, I got some mobility back, some sensation back.

So, I'm not partially paralyzed from the waist down.

This show has meant so much to me.

Um...

Partly because as a performer with a disability for a long time, I was convinced that I would only get to do theater if it is specific to my disability.

And then a company like OSF comes forward and says, no, no, we're going to include people with disabilities and the play is not going to be about their disability.

They're going to be part of the story.

It's not about disability, it's just making sure that everyone can tell the story.

Was like revolutionary.

So, it was so important to me to get to be in a play and in a musical and with other people with disabilities and knowing that it was about the story we were telling, not about the bodies telling the story.

- You know my wish for the world would be that the default isn't that we accommodate, right?

The default is that the world is constructed in a way that everybody belongs.

And that the thought of having people with disabilities in a musical is not weird or unusual or the first than it just is.

- I think the most significant change in Luke is that we're seeing how Luke is in life when he is passionate about something.

And if this bar hadn't been placed in front of him and by such a high standard at OSF, we may have never known that about Luke.

And now we do.

And now he knows that about himself.

And I've seen the power when dreams come true for children and teens.

And now he has that experience so deeply in him at such a young age.

I know it will impact him the rest of his life.

♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ [applause] - Basically, it's been a joy.

It's just been a thrill to be a part of and to watch her just really, really thrive and enjoy the process and fit in.

There are opportunities and she is going to be able to fulfil her dreams have some things in her life that are meaningful and this was like t... You know, more than we could've expected.

That she would be doing after highschool.

- I've been surprised by many things at Hairspray and probably the most is that we all have a level of trauma that we have experienced as parents having a special needs child.

Because our child isn't like everybody else, we're no invited to the things that other kids are invited to.

You know, there has never been a sleep over.

And what we... none of us knew would be how healing this would be for us and to be able to come and have OSF welcome us and be able to watch the whole show build.

And watch out kids experience true inclusion for the first time in their lives has been remarkably healing and brings so much joy.

So, I try to go to as many shows as I can even though I don't have time.

Because it's healing me.

Every time I go to see that show I get healed.

- When we find out we have child with... who is impacted significantly there is a grievance and a loss that incurs.

So, to reclaim that dream on their behalf is substantial.

It's, um, profound.

- I have never seen anyone like me on stage at OSF.

Hairspray gives kids with special needs a chance to perform which I thought was impossible.

I now know that I can dance on the big stage of the best theater ever.

I hope I can do it again.

- When I was at the restaurant eating the pizza there was a person there.

What was their, uh...

I got recognized by a random stranger.

Random strangers liked the show?

- Has it been harder or easier than you expected?

- Easy.

- It's been easier?

Well, that's good!

That's excellent.

But what has been the hardest thing you have had to do?

- Easy!

- I remember being in Hairspray.

It was my own dream that-that came to me when I was seven.

And now that I'm not seven anymore, I would say I love being a grown up.

And, eh... And to... And I also wanna say Hairspray teaches lessons about everyone who... who are special.

And you can't bully or judge people just for who they are.

- Building self esteem in teens is I think the number one challenge as a parent.

And this has been grace.

Coz I have a kid that believes in himself much more that he did.

And again, not just impact... that's gonna impact him his whole life.

And I see it with the other kids too.

You know, they-they feel good about themselves.

Normal teens, you know the Gen Ed teens are coming up to these kids after shows and talking to them and wanting to do pictures with them.

That doesn't happen at the school.

It's happening here at OSF.

And that's a beautiful profound thing for everybody involved.

- What's been your favorite thing to happen in this whole process since you joined the cast?

- Everything.

I love everything so much.

I love it when Preston helps me stand up at the end and everyone cheers.

This has been the most fun experience of my life.

I will never forget it.

♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ Ever since we first saw the sun ♪ ♪ It seems Vantussle girls are always tryin' ♪ ♪ Please someone ♪ ♪ But now we're gonna shake and shimmy ♪ ♪ And just have some fun today ♪ ♪ You can't stop the motion of the ocean ♪ ♪ Or the rain from above ♪ ♪ You can try to stop the paradise we're dreaming of ♪ ♪ But you cannot stop the rhythm of two hearts in love to stay ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ - So, what have you've been doing since Hairspray?

- I do classes.

- You do classes?

- Yeah, I'm doing a cooking class now.

- Oh, cool!

- Yeah.

I see her most every Tuesday.

I see Zahra in class lately.

- Will you talk a little bit more about bowling?

You... were you, uh, representing?

- Oregon.

- All of Oregon?

- Uh, yeah.

Yes.

- What was the event?

- Event?

Special Olympics.

Bronze medal in the USA Games.

That's all.

And then I got two other smaller medals.

- Would you like to be in the theatre again?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Would you like to work at OSF?

- Yeah - You said it was the most inclusive experience... - Most inclusive experience of my life.

Hairspray and Chris Moore.

Cast and crew.

- So, it's almost five years since Hairspray ended.

How was that experience for you?

Did you have a good time in Hairspray?

- Yeah.

- Your house had a fire?

- Yeah.

- And then what happened?

- So, we-we stayed in the apartment that, uh, Oregon Shakespeare Festival had to offer.

With other people that lost their houses also.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, in the apartment complex.

We got a phone call from somebody that was in the play with you and they said, "Hey, we have apartments you can stay in until you find how to rebuild your house."

- What's your life like now?

- Happy.

- Ori was in transition school until last June.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

And they did all kinds of activities with school.

A lot of things like learning to cook or making crafts and a lot of things following the student's interests.

So, for Ori that was a fair amount of arts and things like that.

- Would you like to do theatre again?

- Yes.

Yeah.

- Any show that you like the most?

- Yeah.

Hairspray.

[chuckles] - Hairspray is always and forever favorite.

- The month after Hairspray ended, I took a job at Cummins.

I loved that job too because I was accepted by the workers.

But when Cummins announced that they were closing the... their building.

Then I decided to go into early retirement.

But for now I'm busy researching characters and the creators of shows that I like.

And writing.

Hairspray did change my life.

I hope that I get to do Hairspray or something in theatre and have my dream over and over again.

- Being in Hairspray was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

It made me feel stronger because I sometimes work six days a week at the theatre and went to school full time.

I felt like my disability disappeared during my time at the theatre because it was the best inclusion of my life.

I was surprised by how much I was able to do.

In high school I got A's in all my classes all four years.

This helped me achieve my dream of being a valedictorian.

During my senior year I was in a play called Curtains and was given the opportunity to have lines in several scenes using my talk buddy.

This became possible because of my experience in Hairspray.

My time with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival also taught me that I could handle the pressure of doing more than one thing at a time.

So, while I was rehearsing for Curtains, I was also practicing for my part in the Grizz Pageant at my high school and ended up winning the trophy.

All of these events gave me courage to do public speaking after high school.

I have started to travel the United States and speak to school audiences about the importance of believing in their dreams, perseverance, and the power of inclusion.

The inclusion that I experienced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival opened the door for me to realize there are endless possibilities if you put your mind to it, work hard, and believe in yourself.

I hope if you take anything away from my story it is that when you see a differently abled person that you'll take time to be kind to them.

And remember they are likely capable of much more than you can imagine.

[applause] I love you all.

Thank you!

Let's go fight some dragons together.

[applause] ♪ Ever since we first saw the light ♪ ♪ A man and woman liked to shake it on a Saturday night ♪ ♪ So I'm gonna shake and shimmy it ♪ ♪ With all of my might today ♪ ♪ You can't stop the motion of the ocean ♪ ♪ Or the rain from above ♪ ♪ You can try and stop the paradise we're dreaming of ♪ ♪ But you cannot stop the rhythm ♪ ♪ Of two hearts in love to stay ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ Come on you Von Tussle's go and shake your fatty muscles ♪ ♪ No, we can't, yes, you can ♪ ♪ No, we can't, yes, you can ♪ ♪ Yes, we can ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ Ever since we first saw the sun ♪ ♪ It seems Vantussle girls are always tryin' ♪ ♪ Please someone ♪ ♪ But now we're gonna shake and shimmy ♪ ♪ And just have some fun today ♪ ♪ You can't stop the motion of the ocean or the rain from above ♪ You can try and stop the paradise we're dreaming of ♪ ♪ But you cannot stop the rhythm of two hearts in love to stay ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ ♪ You can't stop the beat ♪ [END]