{"id":296,"date":"2020-11-26T17:27:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T22:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/?p=296"},"modified":"2021-01-02T11:42:09","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T16:42:09","slug":"my-theatre-career-with-dis-mis-abilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/my-theatre-career-with-dis-mis-abilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Disabilities &#038; Barriers in My Theatre Career"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_307\" style=\"width: 443px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-307\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-307\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-230x300.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-786x1024.jpg 786w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-768x1000.jpg 768w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-1179x1536.jpg 1179w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-1572x2048.jpg 1572w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-816x1063.jpg 816w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-1250x1628.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-400x521.jpg 400w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2020\/11\/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-CCI_000048-scaled.jpg 1965w\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"564\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-307\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">original drawing by BK (Bill Koch)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>\u201cIf you want to be in Theatre, get out; if you <strong>need<\/strong> to be in Theatre, figure out a way to make a living at it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>I never forgot these words spoken by Uta Hagen to my 1960s class of first-time students with her. Most of us were working actors (a few with already successful careers) \u2014 we all were there to learn from one of the great performers and acting teachers of that period \u2014 and over time I realized this statement was not just about financial matters.<\/p>\n<p>People with \u201cdisabilities\u201d are often discouraged from pursuing a Theatre career.&nbsp; It took me a long time to learn that there are obvious \u201cvisible disabilities,\u201d like being in a wheelchair, but there are also \u201cinvisible disabilities\u201d (see below).<\/p>\n<p>Here are some performing artists with visible disabilities who\u2019ve influenced me with their acceptance as people and their creativeness as artists:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">In 1946, I was mesmerized by Harold Russell\u2019s performance in \u201cTHE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES\u201d\u2014 here was a professional actor, who had lost both hands in World War II, who used that fact to help create a believable character of an ordinary soldier who had lost his hands in the war. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, as well as a second Oscar as an inspiration to returning veterans.&nbsp; And as Uta Hagen would later say <em>\u201cIt\u2019s hardest to play a character close to yourself.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>In college in 1956, I witnessed an incredible performance of an actress playing the title role in Garcia Lorca\u2019s powerful \u201cTHE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA\u201d \u2014 later to learn she was legally blind and had memorized the positions of furniture and props.<\/li>\n<li>Having had the privilege in 1977 of researching, directing and working with a sign-language coach on a production of \u201cJOHNNY BELINDA\u201d, I was very impressed in 1986 with Marlee Matlin\u2019s Oscar-winning performance as a deaf woman in \u201cCHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD\u201d \u2014 again thinking of Miss Hagen\u2019s comment.<\/li>\n<li>Christopher Reeve, paralyzed from the neck down, convincingly starred in a remake of&nbsp; \u201cREAR WINDOW\u201d \u2014 where the hero was totally paralyzed.&nbsp; See his book <em>\u201cStill Me\u201d<\/em> or check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christopherreeve.org\/living-with-paralysis\/about-the-paralysis-resource-center\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" onclick=\"javascript:window.open('https:\/\/www.christopherreeve.org\/living-with-paralysis\/about-the-paralysis-resource-center'); return false;\">Christopher &amp; Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center<\/a> website.&nbsp; He is one of my heroes of accepting one&#8217;s disability and channeling into creativity!<\/li>\n<li>For many years, I have been inspired and entertained by actors and actresses and especially dancers whose physical disabilities have required wheelchair mobilization \u2014 artists who have accepted and used their \u201cdisability\u201d situations to create and perform in new and exciting ways!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(Check online for an amazing variety of dance companies, dance schools, dance therapy, et al who evidence, teach and assist the positive and joyful affirmation of people recycling disability into Art!)<\/p>\n<p>What we\u2019re often not aware of are people with \u201cinvisible disabilities,\u201d like diabetes, addiction problems, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.&nbsp; And there are sometimes other obstacles to a Theatre career \u2014 or to Life \u2014 I call these \u201cbarriers\u201d \u2014 situations where a person has natural talents but is not allowed to express them.&nbsp; In my lifetime, I have seen a variety of Theatre artists stifled or rejected because of race, age, sexual preference, religion, body type, et al.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>My first awareness of a \u201cbarrier\u201d was falling in love with ballet in Hollywood films \u2014 mainly through the dazzling work of Gene Kelly! But in the 1940s &amp; \u201950s \u201cboys\u201d were not allowed to take ballet lessons \u2014 it was an art only for girls. So, in secret and alone, I would imitate some of the movements I remembered Kelly doing. &nbsp;Luckily in 1960, I was \u201cdiscovered\u201d (like Billy Elliot) by a teacher in New Orleans \u2014 Gayle Parmelee, who trained me, taught me about commitment, shared her love of dance, and later \u201ckicked me out of the nest\u201d into a New York career! Thanks Gayle!<\/li>\n<li>Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disruption \u2014 a rupture \u2014 of a person\u2019s being; this \u201cinvisible disability\u201d was first diagnosed in soldiers returning from the horrors of World War I in the 1920s \u2014then it was called \u201cshell-shock.\u201d Now it is accepted as an illness, a disorder affecting anyone who has survived violence or trauma, especially childhood trauma.&nbsp; I was finally diagnosed with this illness\u2013this \u201cinvisible disability\u201d\u2013four years ago, and worked in PTSD Therapy for almost three years \u2014 successfully.&nbsp; But most of my life, my \u201cinvisible\u201d PTSD was stifled with active alcoholism and other attempts to escape from the pain and fear and self-worthlessness which are symptoms of this disease. While it often disabled me privately, it was my love of Theatre and Dance that saved my life,&nbsp; gave me sanity and purpose and community.&nbsp; Once processed, the details of my past are no longer important (except perhaps for future character motivations!) and fun things from the past are reclaimed.&nbsp; I now have a very happy private as well as Theatre life!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reason I share this is to offer hope if you, or someone you care about, have any of these issues. I have enjoyed a very successful career, thanks to the variety of theatrical talents I was born with and nurtured, and thanks to my mentors (especially Ralph &amp; Uta) and the many people who were teachers, fellow artists, students, and audience members. And a special thanks to the example of Bill Wilson, who appeared in a high school production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT\u2019S DREAM.<\/p>\n<p>At this point in my amazing, long life (82 this year 2020!), I am thrilled to share that every single trauma I experienced has been recycled. Every single painful, destructive incident in my life has been re-channeled by being there for someone else going through a similar situation \u2014 and by processing and sharing with others in my life in Theatre \u2014 through acting, dancing, writing, directing, even my puppetry work.<\/p>\n<p>So, my curious reader, if you have a disability or a barrier standing in the path of your career in Theatre, embrace it, get necessary help, see it as a special attribute you have to offer through your artistic gifts. The best thing you have to offer is you.&nbsp; I wish you a happy career and a happy life. I\u2019m sure grateful for mine!<\/p>\n<p>For more about my journey through this, see my Highlight <a href=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/bk-wildhorse-the-celebration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cBK WILDHORSE! \u2014 Celebration\u201d<\/a> and watch the LIABILITIES and Red Ribbons sections of the video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIf you want to be in Theatre, get out; if you need to be in Theatre, figure out a way to make a living at it.\u201d&nbsp;I never forgot these words spoken by Uta Hagen to my 1960s class of first-time students with her. Most of us were working actors (a few with already successful careers) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlight"],"metadata":{"_edit_last":["227"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Overcoming Disabilities &amp; Barriers in My Theatre Career - Bill Koch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/my-theatre-career-with-dis-mis-abilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overcoming Disabilities &amp; Barriers in My Theatre Career - Bill Koch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIf you want to be in Theatre, get out; if you need to be in Theatre, figure out a way to make a living at it.\u201d&nbsp;I never forgot these words spoken by Uta Hagen to my 1960s class of first-time students with her. 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Favorite roles: Will Parker &amp; Kagekiyo, The Blind Samurai. &gt;&gt;&gt;Stage Director, Choreographer, Soundtracker, Theatre Teacher &amp; Workshop Leader: &gt;OVERVIEW-50+ years: 220 Productions of 161 Scripts\\\/Librettos\\\/Scenarios\\\/Scores. Including 10 company residencies, 12 guest artist positions (including 12 years as Faculty Guest Director at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts). Favorite directed drama: \u201cJohnny Belinda\u201d. &gt;Richard Rodgers &amp; Oscar Hammerstein's \\\"ALLEGRO\\\"-(Stage Director\\\/Choreographer): (First\u2014and only\u2014fully staged New York Revival\u2014at Equity Library Theatre\u20141979) \\\"Dear Mr. Koch, I enjoyed your work in 'Allegro' so much that I hope we can get together on some future effort. Meanwhile, let me congratulate you and thank you. Yours sincerely, Richard Rodgers\\\" aka WILLIAM HENRY KOCH, JR. &gt;&gt;&gt;Poet, Playwright, Composer, Lyricist &gt;OVERVIEW-50+ years: 13 full length plays (6 produced); 28 one-act plays (20 produced); 1 short produced screenplay; 8 produced adaptations; countless number of songs in and out of collections, many performed. Favorite poetry collection: \u201cSonnets From The Tower of London\u201d. Unpublished Autobiography in Poetry\u201438 Volumes: 1956 to Present. Listed in Who\u2019s Who in America: 2019.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/kochbill\\\/author\\\/kochbill\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Overcoming Disabilities & Barriers in My Theatre Career - Bill Koch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/my-theatre-career-with-dis-mis-abilities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Overcoming Disabilities & Barriers in My Theatre Career - Bill Koch","og_description":"\u201cIf you want to be in Theatre, get out; if you need to be in Theatre, figure out a way to make a living at it.\u201d&nbsp;I never forgot these words spoken by Uta Hagen to my 1960s class of first-time students with her. 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Favorite roles: Will Parker &amp; Kagekiyo, The Blind Samurai. &gt;&gt;&gt;Stage Director, Choreographer, Soundtracker, Theatre Teacher &amp; Workshop Leader: &gt;OVERVIEW-50+ years: 220 Productions of 161 Scripts\/Librettos\/Scenarios\/Scores. Including 10 company residencies, 12 guest artist positions (including 12 years as Faculty Guest Director at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts). Favorite directed drama: \u201cJohnny Belinda\u201d. &gt;Richard Rodgers &amp; Oscar Hammerstein's \"ALLEGRO\"-(Stage Director\/Choreographer): (First\u2014and only\u2014fully staged New York Revival\u2014at Equity Library Theatre\u20141979) \"Dear Mr. Koch, I enjoyed your work in 'Allegro' so much that I hope we can get together on some future effort. Meanwhile, let me congratulate you and thank you. Yours sincerely, Richard Rodgers\" aka WILLIAM HENRY KOCH, JR. &gt;&gt;&gt;Poet, Playwright, Composer, Lyricist &gt;OVERVIEW-50+ years: 13 full length plays (6 produced); 28 one-act plays (20 produced); 1 short produced screenplay; 8 produced adaptations; countless number of songs in and out of collections, many performed. Favorite poetry collection: \u201cSonnets From The Tower of London\u201d. Unpublished Autobiography in Poetry\u201438 Volumes: 1956 to Present. Listed in Who\u2019s Who in America: 2019.","url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/author\/kochbill\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}