Theater for all: My Turn Theater gives spotlight to actors who have disabilities

Apr. 28—Moving across a church rehearsal space, more than a dozen actors sang "Be My Guest" in early April. Some read lines from a script, while others danced through their parts, including Belle waltzing with the Beast.

The cast is practicing three times a week to perform "Beauty and the Beast Jr." in June at Gonzaga University's Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center. They're part of My Turn Theater, a Spokane nonprofit that runs musical productions designed for special needs adults and teens.

Each actor is matched with a nondisabled partner to do My Turn Theater's live stage performances.

During shows, the volunteer "shadow actors" dress in dark clothing to support the cast of costumed performers, if hints are needed for a line or position. But most often during the performances, the reminders aren't needed, said Wendy Carroll, the theater's executive director and founder.

"This is a partnership that is established between the actor and shadow actor," Carroll said. "They're really a team. It's a safety net when the actors feel like someone literally has their back, and it gives them confidence. They can do it by the time we do the performance, but they feel safer when they have someone right there."

The theater's actors experience challenges ranging from autism and Down syndrome to vision-impairment and spina bifida, Carroll said. The shadow volunteers have ranged in age from 12 to 70, including community theater actors, retirees, students and doctors. Mostly, they literally stay in the shadows.

"We sometimes integrate them into a big production number, where there are choruses, like for 'Be My Guest,' " Carroll said.

"We've had actors with autism learn things that stick with them, like eye contact and body language, because they've had to use that on stage. For many of our actors, they're so absorbed in the process, they don't want to go home. They're happy to focus for three hours of rehearsals.

"Many of them learn about how to go on stage and show emotions and expressions without words. They have to explore that on stage. This concept also means there is a lot of social interaction. It's about 50-50 disabled and nondisabled, and both gain a lot from this experience."

She credits her 33-year-old son, Toby Carroll, for her initial inspiration. He has a developmental disability, autism and mild cerebral palsy.

Carroll has performed as a community theater actress and is a former Disney Studios producer. Her son often watched her on the stage.

"I would take my son to auditions, and around with me to shows, and quite literally one night I was looking out at the audience and saw him," Carroll said. "That night, it dawned on me that he was waiting for his turn."

That's when in 2016, she founded her first nonprofit, Out of the Shadows Theater, with the same focus for disabled actors. At that time, she lived in Coeur d'Alene. When Out of the Shadows held its first show, also "Beauty and the Beast Jr." at the Kroc Center, "it was an enormous success," she said. "We sold out the 400-seat theater."

Out of the Shadows went on to do "Fiddler on the Roof," "Mary Poppins," and "The Music Man." That theater, now called CDA Act, continues with the same goals and is now led by a board of directors.

After Carroll moved with her son to Mead in 2021, she launched My Turn Theater as a nonprofit for the Spokane area. It opened with "Guys and Dolls Jr.," performed in September at the Bing Crosby Theater. My Turn also won the 2022 Spokane Arts Award for Inclusion.

As more word-of-mouth has spread, rehearsals for this upcoming show drew more people, including Kerry Hannah and sons Patrick Hannah, 20, and Evan Hannah, 18, who both are autistic, she said. They recently joined rehearsals at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

"We live here in Spokane and we've wanted to do this, but the other theater group was too far to drive to Coeur d'Alene," Kerry Hannah said. "I just found out from a co-worker about My Turn Theater. I think it's probably going to help with their self-confidence and making friends.

"Everyone is fun and welcoming."

Carroll said this current cast is mostly all new to theater. Many of the performers already knew the songs or now listen regularly away from rehearsals to prepare.

She often has volunteers to help with the music and choreography who are regional theater professionals, such as from Gonzaga, Stage Left and Spokane Civic Theatre.

In past shows, Carroll said she's witnessed several milestones, including an actress who had a condition affecting her limbs and had always used a wheelchair. She played the role of a French maid when Out of the Shadows did "Beauty and the Beast Jr."

"The costume designer was designing a costume for her that would fit over her wheelchair," Carroll said. "During a fitting, the actress said, 'No I'm going to walk on stage.' We looked at each other, is this realistic? We asked her mother, who said 'Yes, she's been doubling down on physical therapy.'

"Four days before the show in rehearsals, she walked on stage with a walker, and she did so for the rest of the performances. The next year, she did dances for 'Fiddler on the Roof' with a walker. She needed a goal, a motivation."

Carroll said that another girl with autism was nervous before a show, and leaders told her, "If you don't want to go on stage, it's OK." Carroll said the actress decided to go out and do the performance. "At intermission she had a huge grin. She said, 'They're staring at me for my abilities, not my disabilities.' "

The upcoming show will have narrators to help bridge action on stage, this time including Molly Allen and Ken Hopkins from the "Dave, Ken and Molly" morning show on KZZU, and Melody Deathridge, a Spokane actress.

"We're embracing the new theater technology this time with the use of some incredibly gorgeous projected images from Broady Media taking the place of cumbersome and expensive backdrops," Carroll said.

"Beauty and the Beast Jr." performances are scheduled the weekends of June 2-4 and 9-11. American Sign Language interpreters will be present on June 4 and 10.

Tickets are issued on a donation basis at the door or online, and parking is free. Information is at the My Turn Theater website, which will have a link to buy via the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center.