“On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; ‘Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?’ For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly: ‘I certainly did something about it. I made you.’”
“The Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League (PHAMALY.org) is a theatre group and touring company that performs throughout the greater Denver area. PHAMALY was formed in 1989 when a group of former students of the Boettcher School in Denver, Colorado, grew frustrated with the lack of theatrical opportunities for people living with disabilities, and decided to create a theatre company that would provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to perform. As a not-for-profit membership organization, PHAMALY is dedicated to producing traditional theatre in nontraditional ways.”
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Quoting a Nov. 22 blurb written by John Moore, the Denver Post’s Theater Critic:
The cast of the handicapped theater company PHAMALY was surprised by the attendance last week of big-time comedian Josh Blue at a performance of their “Vox Phamalia: Re-Dux,” a night of collaborative comedy sketches about living with disabilities. Blue, who has cerebral palsy, was a winner of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
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Most of you have probably heard about Grammy-winning deaf composer & percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie (who lost nearly all her hearing by age 12, and who is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist). She gives more than 100 performances a year, has been on The David Letterman Show and on Sesame Street, and has shared stages with the likes of Bela Fleck, Bjork, Bobby McFerrin, and Sting. She’s also a best-selling author (her 1990 autobiography is called Good Vibrations).
Some of you may even have seen her extraordinary 2007 TED Talk.
But if you haven’t… we thought we’d share it with you.
It’s phenomenal. A “soaring” demonstration. A “must-watch” video.
Enjoy!
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And…
Then…
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Here’s an AWESOME YouTube video—a Trent University-produced “vignette” starring the multiple-award-winning Mr. Lewis “Codeboy” Schofield:
By now, you all know Donna Williams. Here’s a poem called “Butterflies” that Donna wrote recently.
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if someone takes your disabilities and makes them your
gilded cage
then you take charge of your disabilities like never before
for they are your fallibility, the keys to your cage
a key you allowed someone else to call theirs
because they taught you this was love and caring
and in the light of day you realise it had nothing to do
with you
so you look in the mirror and say, wow, there’s a fool
and brush off the dust and say, ok, so the world is full of
fools so I’m in good company
and you look at your life and say, wow, there’s an island
but islands can build bridges
and you look at your smile and say
wow, I’d forgotten I could wake up with this
and you look at your time and say
you ain’t Florence Nightingale, so follow that smile
because a heart shouldn’t be heavy
it should be light
because a heavy heart will never fly
and butterflies can.
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Buy Donna’s gorgeous (and reasonably priced!) paintings
(Holiday tip: Nothing says "I love you" like original art!)
(With a name like Donna and The Aspinauts, how can you resist?)
Read Donna’s blog and visit her website
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If you live in Canada, you can support Donna and Irked SIMULTANEOUSLY:
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From the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation comes this very very valuable nugget of information…
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Read Irked posts tagged “wheelchair”
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….then give a little bit Mo’
As most of you know by now, Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.
Philip Patston is certainly doing his part to raise awareness.
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This is Mr. Lewis Schofield’s latest painting. It’s entitled “Undersea Stroll” and it’s about to be exhibited at an autism conference…
Isn’t it totally awesome?!
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Click here to read the story behind the artwork >>
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The Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival, happening as we speak in Toronto, explores cinematic representations of mental health and addiction. Film and video programs are followed by post-screening panel discussions with people who receive mental health and addiction services, as well as writers, directors, actors, health care professionals and academics.
The sessions—which are free and open to the public—will be moderated by highly-acclaimed journalists Kathryn Gretsinger and Charlie Smith, and the great David Diamond (Headlines Theatre’s trailblazing co-founder and current Artistic Director). They “will get at the nuts and bolts of creating safe, affordable and supportive housing. Each day deals with location, financing and necessary supports and services.”
Moderated panels will be made up of people who have experienced homelessness, Metro Vancouver city councillors and business leaders.
Panelists will each present a short talk on the day’s topic, followed by an open dialogue with the audience.
The ideas discussed at the Sessions will generate an official Community Action Report—designed “to inform policy.” In fact, Headlines Theatre has written agreements from the following organizations to receive the report for their research for national, provincial, regional and local strategies on mental health and homelessness:
If you’d like to participate (and you really really should), The Community Dialogue Sessions are being held in Vancouver at the Firehall Arts Centre:
280 E. Cordova Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 24, 25 and 26 @ 1:30pm each day
Admission is free and open to the public
For more information call 1-604-871-0508 or email info@headlinestheatre.com.
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Learn more at headlinestheatre.com
Then…
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