ADVOCACY GROUPS NOT HAPPY WITH ABIGAIL BRESLIN AS HELEN KELLER

The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts has stated in a recent interview with their executive director, Sharon Jensen, that their organization strongly opposed the decision by the producers of the upcoming Off-Broadway production of The Miracle Worker to cast Breslin without even auditioning any young well known actresses who were hearing or sight impaired. . “We do not think it’s O.K. for reputable producers to cast this lead role without seriously considering an actress from our community,” Ms. Jensen said. “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.” Abigail Breslin was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Little Miss Sunshine and is currently in the hit Zombieland. The producer of the show, David Richenthal, said that he had already had Breslin in mind when he chose to take on the show. He "wanted a star". Fair enough. He believes it to be the "only way to make money for his investors in a commercial Broadway revival of a play these days". He did say that deaf and blind actresses would be auditioned to be Abigail's understudy. This all brings up interesting points. Is it the up to the discretion of the producers and directors to hire whoever they want for their productions or should there be some sort of guidelines on the process to protect actors who are blind, deaf, or whatever is specified for the part. This was a huge issue back in the day when Miss Saigon cast Jonathan Pryce, a white man, in the role of the Engineer, who was Eurasian. Equity protested the casting of Pryce, though he played the role in the West End, but eventually Pryce did go on to play the role on Broadway. We'll see what happens here.[SOURCE]