Young Actress Prepares For Role
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Young actress Annabel Cantor, who will
play a girl with cerebral palsy in the upcoming production of “Small
Steps,” practices walking in braces made for her to help authenticate
the role. Watching (from left) are Jessie Jonas, her mom; Toni Thomas,
whose son is videotaping the process for the theater; Stan Foote,
artistic director for the Oregon Children’s Theatre; Kay Ekeya, Shriners
spokesperson; and Sharon Martell, the theater’s community relations
director. In the Orthotics and Prosthetics wing at the Shriners Hospital
for Children in Portland, Annabel Cantor sits on the edge of the bed
where boys and girls with cerebral palsy normally sit. Though she
doesn't have the disability, she slips off her sneakers and holds forth
her legs as a hospital resident brings out a pair of braces made
especially for her.
For the next hour or so, the 12-year-old
will go through the motions of learning to walk with fiberglass devices
that fit her feet and calves like a skier's boots. She will adjust the
Velcro straps, try on special wide shoes, discover how hard it is to
squat. In the next few weeks, she will do her best to act like a girl
whose brain and muscles don't communicate, making things like walking
nearly impossible.
With the help of 24-year-old mentor McKenzie Bartlett, Cantor may get it
exactly right.
Bartlett, who has mild cerebral palsy, couldn't make it to last Friday's
fitting because she wasn't feeling well, but she met Cantor at the
hospital a week earlier. Shriners has partnered with the Oregon
Children's Theatre, where Cantor has been cast to play Ginny in the
world premiere of Louis Sachar's "Small Steps," to help the young
actress learn what it's like to have your muscles flexing all the time.
Because Shriners is a teaching hospital, the braces and mentoring are an
opportunity to educate people about cerebral palsy, says spokesperson
Kay Ekeya.
Though voice coaches who train actors to perfect an accent or dialect
may be more common, William H. Macy consulted with United Cerebral Palsy
when he played door-to-door salesman Bill Porter in the 2002 movie "Door
to Door."
All good actors rely on extensive research, says artistic director Stan
Foote of the Oregon Children's Theatre -- even child actors.
"I would never want anyone walking in saying that's not how it is,"
Foote says. "I don't want to be sensational about it, I want to be
truthful portraying a character like this on stage."
Advocacy groups recently criticized the popular TV show "Glee" for
having a non-disabled actor play a character who uses a wheelchair. They
argued that producers should have hired an actor with a disability for
the part. Foote says the children's theater auditioned a set of twins
with cerebral palsy but chose Cantor.
"What you really want is the best actress or actor for the role because
your job as a director is to accurately portray the situation but also
to bring that to the audience in such a way they have an emotional
experience with it," he says. "People might disagree with me, but it
really is who is going to be the one to bring that emotional experience
to the audience, and sometimes that may not be the person a particular
group wants."
Annabel
Cantor examines the heavy cast made for her at Shriners. Cantor, a
sixth-grader at Northwest Academy who lives in Northeast Portland, had
auditioned for the Oregon Children's Theatre before but never matched up
with any part, Foote says. The freckled-faced Cantor, who has what Foote
calls "To Kill a Mockingbird" Scout characteristics -- spunky, lovable,
inquisitive -- seemed to him ideally suited to play Ginny.
The character is best friends with a 17-year-old named Armpit who has
just left reform school. Despite their seven-year age difference, the
two are close.
Cantor knew about the characters from Sachar's books. "Small Steps" is
the sequel to Newbery Medal winner "Holes."
At the hospital during the fitting on Friday, Cantor's parents ask if
the braces hurt. Cantor says not really. The director wants to know if
she has any socks other than the radiant chartreuse pair she wears. She
says she does. The resident asks her how it feels.
"Really weird," Cantor says. "I think it's going to take some getting
used to."
Acting, though, is not new to her. She has performed in three musicals
at Northwest Children's Theater: as Chip the teacup in "Beauty and the
Beast," as Alice in "Alice in Wonderland" and most recently as the Evil
Dwarf in "Narnia."
Cantor's parents say she has been performing at home since she was
little. An avid reader, Cantor was always interested in story, says her
father, Steven Cantor.
"We read to Annabel a lot but she always wanted more," says her mom,
Jessie Jonas. "She wanted to tell the story."
Annabel's brother, Augie, who is seven years older and a freshman at
Reed College, used to print tickets on the computer for her made-up
plays when they were younger. She would take the tickets for
theatergoers, then run into another room and come back as the performer.
Her brother's flashlight provided her spotlight.
Bartlett has no experience in the theater world but wore braces for her
mild cerebral palsy as a child and is happy to share as much of the
experience as she can remember.
"I felt very humbled by the fact the hospital chose me, "says Bartlett,
who lives in Southeast Portland and manages an optometrist's office
inside the Clackamas Costco. "It's such a great opportunity and it's
very rewarding. How else would you be able to understand what it's like
if you didn't know someone?"
Article by: Larry Bingham, The Oregonian
Images by: Ross William Hamilton, The Oregonian
March 20, 2010, 4:00AM
Annabel
Cantor examines the heavy cast made for her at Shriners. Cantor, a
sixth-grader at Northwest Academy who lives in Northeast Portland, had
auditioned for the Oregon Children's Theatre before but never matched up
with any part, Foote says. The freckled-faced Cantor, who has what Foote
calls "To Kill a Mockingbird" Scout characteristics -- spunky, lovable,
inquisitive -- seemed to him ideally suited to play Ginny.