 Everyone is healthy, everyone's fine. It's just my son was born without his right hand. How's he going to play baseball? No, wait, I'm sorry. Is there anything else wrong? Can he breathe properly? He's fine and healthy, just missing his right hand. Can I see him? Look at you. He is cute. I mean, he looks like me, so he's going to be cute. I want to take him to see his mama, Kathy. Hey, you! I brought you our boy. What happened to his hand? Well, the doctor said he was born without it. It's just a glitch. Well, he's not going to be different. He's got your name for goodness' sake. Abner, David Harrell III. Life is going to be hard enough for him, as it is with a name like that. But we'll call him David. And you are never going to be different. Do you hear me, David? You are never going to be different. I got it. Hey, Wendell! My son is just going to play baseball left-handed. And that is how I entered the world. Maybe not just like that. I might have exaggerated just a little bit. But the important thing is my parents promised me that I was never going to be different. And they never saw anyone who looked like me. So at six months old, my parents took me to a Shriners hospital. And they fitted me with a prosthetic called the mitt. It's not really like this kind of mitt. It looked like a giant winter mitten. And the other kids at the Shriners hospital, they were just kids like me. And we would play games like Candyland. Or we would solve puzzles of Mickey Mouse. Or we would play G.I. Joe or Care Bears. And then they would call your name. And I didn't like this part. You entered a room full of doctors. You were led to a chair in the center of the room. And someone would read my chart while someone else would hold up my arm for all to see. My arm just hung in the air while men and women in white coats twisted and turned and bent my arm using words that I could not understand. Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, and doctor. This young man has a malformation of the right hand. So young man, tell us, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. I learned a new song. Do you want to hear it? The devil went down to Georgia. He was looking for a soda steal. He was in a bind because he's way behind. He's looking to make a deal. Watched from the back of the room is to the basement of the Shriners Hospital to be fitted for a new prosthesis. I was always fitted by this guy named Bruce. He was a giant. I would look up at him and he would look down at me. He had an artificial leg and sometimes he would let me karate chop it with my nub. Sum it down now. We've got to get you a new prosthesis. Bruce would take this big bucket of water. And then he would take casting stuff or plaster of Paris. And he would put it in the water. And once it was wet, he would get to wrap my arm. I could feel the heat of it as it became solid as the makings of a new prosthesis. So David, I hear you're about to start preschool. Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Well, I want to be a baseball player or a football player. But I do know I want a Letterman jacket. How do you know what a Letterman jacket is? Well, my dad takes me to see the Glen Academy football team play football on Friday nights. And after the games, all the guys come out with a jacket with a big letter on them. And they all have girlfriends. And I want to be just like them. Oh, that's a good thing to want to be. And you, more than anyone else, are going to need lots of perseverance. I didn't know what perseverance meant. So I went to the one person who knew everything. And that was my granddad, Pop Pop. Pop Pop. Today at the Shriners, Bruce said I needed a whole lot of perseverance. You know what that is? I'll tell you what, David. Perseverance is a lot like my little league baseball team. See, we were called the little potatoes and hard to peel. See, we were smaller than the other kids and maybe not as talented. But we always play with our hearts. So it didn't matter if we won or we lost. We never got down because we knew on the inside, we're tough and hard to peel. I had no idea what Pop Pop was talking about. But I had more important things to think about. I was starting preschool. And everyone knows that the best part of preschool is the glorious slide at the playground. And I am in a race, neck and neck, with this kid, Cliff Tankersley, to be first in line at the slide. And I win. Hey, Captain Hook, you better watch out with that thing on your arm. You might break somebody's face. Hey, Captain Hook, do you ever find that alligator? Captain Hook, it might be in your mom's bathtub. Captain Hook, Captain Hook, Captain Hook. I swung my hook at Cliff Tankersley and missed. He takes off running and I chase him all the way back to the school building. And then I ran back to the slide because now I was first in line. I got to the top of the slide and I reached out my arm. And for the first time, I see it. I mean, really, my hook, I look down at all the other kids looking up at me. And I realize that my parents lied. I am different. Cliff Tankersley's mama was waiting for my mama as we left the preschool. You need to tell your son to stay away from my son with that thing he's got on his arm. Well, you need to tell your son to stop calling other kids' names, you big heifer. Maybe sometimes people are stupid. And they get scared by what they don't understand. And you have to wear your hook. And you have to be careful with your right hand. But if that little Cliff Tankersley says anything to you again, you use your left hand to punch him in the nose. The preschool called my parents to tell them they couldn't have me terrorizing all the other kids in the playground and I was not welcome back. And my mom tells my dad, you need to fire up that station wagon because if that lady wants to see terrorizing, I will show her how we take care of things. South Georgia style. Honey, could I get you a Bud Light? My mom had to turn to the only other preschool in town that was Miss Tina's Playhouse. Now, Miss Tina was a little eccentric for South Georgia. She wore these long flowing clothes that she had big gold bracelets that jingled when she walked. And she had this raspy voice that accompanied her bleach blonde hair. You are a promise. You are a possibility. You are a promise. With a capitol pee. Come here, you little sugarpuss. Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock. Miss Tina welcomed me with open arms. And she never treated me like I was different. And I almost forgot that I was. Miss Tina also introduces me to the stage and inadvertently alters the course of my life. David, you are a little performer, aren't you? I think you would be wonderful as the third Billy Goats gruff. I love being Billy Goats gruff. And that summer, something happened that made me the coolest kid in the world. My mom took me to see the Empire Strikes Back and Luke Skywalker, the biggest hero in the world, gets its freaking hand chopped off. I could be Luke Skywalker. I mean, when I was a kid, Star Wars was the biggest thing in the world and we played Star Wars all the time. And normally whoever said the name of the character they wanted to be first got to play it. But now I could say, hey guys, I wanna be Luke Skywalker because I have only got one hand. My friend Jay Brower would be Darth Vader and we would have epic lightsaber battles in his tree house which of course became Cloud City. If you only knew the power of the dark side, oh well I never told you what happened to your father. He told me enough. He told me you killed him. No. Skywalker hand. Wait a minute. Do I need a Luke Skywalker hand? You don't need no Luke Skywalker hand, fool. Okay, time out. I should also tell you that my favorite television show when I was a kid was the A Team and my favorite character was B.A. Barakas. It was played by the incomparable Mr. T. And I used to pretend that my hand looked just like Mr. T. And my fingers made a perfect mohawk. So I would take a magic marker and I would color in my fingers to make a mohawk and then I'd put a couple of eyes and mouth and my thumb would become the nose and in my imagination Mr. T. would come alive and give me advice. Like, you don't need no Luke Skywalker hand, fool. Well, Luke Skywalker has a Luke Skywalker hand, Mr. T. He's like the coolest guy in the universe, so. You like playing without your hook, don't you? Well, yeah, but everyone says I have to use it. No, you don't. There's so many things you could do without your hook. Well, like what? Play baseball. Mr. T, how am I gonna play baseball? Well, put a glove on your left hand, roll it over on me, take a ball and throw it. Mr. T, I'll look silly. No, no, no, no, no. Just do it. Fine, Mr. T, I'll put a baseball glove on my left hand, I'll catch the ball, roll it over on you, take a ball and throw it. Catch the ball, roll it over on you, take a ball and throw it. Catch the ball, roll it over on you, take a ball and throw it. I started practicing all the time. I would throw with my dad in the backyard until he was tired and then I'd throw the ball against the wall of my house until it was dark. And pretty soon I was as fast as any two-handed kid. And by middle school, I was making the all-star team. Heard about a guy named Jim Abbott? He was born just like me and he was gonna pitch in the major leagues. I was gonna be the next great left-handed pitcher. You on your way to a Letterman jacket now, fool. I know, Mr. T. But to be really normal, I need a girlfriend to go along with the Letterman jacket. How does one get a girlfriend? It's a numbers game, fool, right? So the more girls I ask out, the better my chances are, not exactly. I know, I could ask out all the girls at the girls' table in the lunchroom. What's your prediction, Mr. T.? Hey, hi ladies. Leslie, I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend and, you know, go with me? Julie, I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend and, you know, go with me? And I was, no, okay. I pitted a girl who don't go with you. She's a fool, not now, Mr. T. She's doing what you told me to do. I didn't tell you to ask a table full of girls out, fool. Well, they don't want to go with me or be my girlfriend because I'm not normal. And you know that's true. What could I do to be normal enough to have these girls pay attention to me? You ever tried politics? It ain't no secret. Ladies love a politician. I don't understand what you're saying, Mr. T. Student council fool. You need to put your big boy panties on and run for student council. Mr. T., no, no, no, no. Big boy panties. So I put my big boy panties on and I tell my mom I'm gonna run for student council. That is brilliant. I have to be your campaign manager. I have a campaign slogan, catch the wave, vote for Dave. I see a billboard on Altama Avenue that says catch the wave, vote for Dave. I can write catch the wave, vote for Dave on ribbons for you to tie around lollipops to hand to your constituents. My homeroom teacher, Mr. Eckelberry, was also a big fan of my campaign. David, I love how you're running your campaign. It is awesome, but the facts are you're running against all the popular kids. They're gonna split the vote. You need to focus in on the universal vote. And what is more universal than rap? You should rap your speech. Mr. Eckelberry thinks I should rap my speech. That is brilliant. And the next morning, my mother had written a rap for me. He'd just go show them how we do it. South Georgia style. I went to the podium and I looked out on the entire eighth grade and then the immortal words of tone loke say let's do it. My name is Dave, but they call me the rave and I'm here to ask you to catch the wave. Leadership and responsibility, yo. They both mean so much to me. So, give me a chance to exhibit these by electing me as your representative. Boop. Dave, that you cast your vote, so grab your board and don't ride the boat. Vote for David Harrell and your vote for me and we'll ride the wave to Glen Academy. Peace. There was this eruption of applause through the entire eighth grade and then the standing ovation. I never received a standing ovation before. I kind of floated back to my seat and Tanya Adamson who was sitting beside me going next to whispers, I hate you. I guess not all girls like politicians. I ended up getting elected to student council but I still didn't have a girlfriend and I still didn't feel normal. So, I went back to that original game plan. If I could get that Letterman jacket that a girlfriend would follow and then I would be normal just like those guys I saw before. So, by freshman year I beat out five guys for freshman team quarterback. And the next year I played JV quarterback. I was on my way to varsity quarterback and everyone knows the varsity quarterback has that Letterman jacket and a girlfriend. There was just one problem. Coach Spiegel. Coach Spiegel looks like a mixture of a pit bull and an ogre and he chewed tobacco all the time. It literally sprayed from his mouth when he talked. Hey, get over here, idiot one. Have I told you today how much you suck? I mean, you might've beat out five other guys for quarterback but for some reason in my vast worldly wisdom I am compelled to constantly remind you that you suck. You suck at running, you suck at passing, you suck at drinking water. I don't even know why you're so playing quarterback anymore. You see, we're not gonna throw the ball no more. No, so we're gonna run ourselves an option. And there ain't no way you're gonna run an option with one hand. So, Covington, come over here. You, I'm gonna be our quarterback. Perl sucks. Started to think that maybe he was right. So they moved me from quarterback to linebacker and in spring practice I tackle a guy head to head and my neck pretends like it's an accordion and I'm taken off in an ambulance and then I can't play. And without playing I don't get that letterman jacket and without the letterman jacket it seemed at the time that I would never have a girlfriend and therefore I would never feel normal. And so one day I'm walking to class with one of the girls from the lunch table in middle school Ann who was just trying to help. Oh my gosh, David. I just saw a flyer inviting people to audition for the drama class and I think you should do it. I mean, I know you're looking for a girlfriend and I don't find you attractive nor do any of my friends find you attractive but I think that theater people will think you're funny and funny is cute. Cute is funny. So I make a beeline to Miss Burkhalter's class to audition for the drama and they're doing Romeo and Juliet and somehow I read my audition and I finished by saying I have experience, I have been the third Billy Goat gruff. Somehow, some way I get cast as Romeo and Willy Wonka and Charlie in the Chocolate Factory and Johnny in the Outsiders. Stay go, pony boy. Stay go. I mean, I felt like I was at home. It started to feel real but it didn't get a Letterman jacket. They don't give Letterman jackets out for drama so I went back to baseball because I thought I was gonna get that Letterman jacket and I was gonna be normal. So I would throw every day and my dad builds a pitcher's mound in our backyard and I get good enough. They have to put me on the team. There's just one thing keeping me from actually playing. You suck. Come on, coach. I've been working really hard. You gotta let me play. I'll tell you what. I might just maybe let you pitch the third playoff game in our playoff series against Statesboro. Let's see, a playoff series was the best of three games so if we won the first two games we would never, ever play a third game and everyone in the state of Georgia expected us to win those first two games but we lost the second game and I went to the bullpen to warm up to pitch the third. Hey, David, I changed my mind. You're out. I just wanted a chance to prove myself. Hey, son. I'm sorry your coach is a butt face. I had to send your mother home before she slapped him south Georgia style. Now you can't quit. That's what he wants you to do. See, I had a guy, when I was in the army, he was a lot like your coach. He'd always be in my ear saying, when are you gonna quit, Harold? When are you gonna quit? Now we'd be running eight miles or we'd be crawling through the mud and he'd be in my ear. When are you gonna quit? When are you gonna quit? And I'd say graduation day, 15 May, 1967, sir. See, that's what perseverance is. It's not quitting. And life is a lot about perseverance and courage. Now you find the courage to go back in that dugout and be a part of your team. Thanks, Dad. I went back to the dugout and before I knew it, Coach Spiegel says, hey, Harold, I gotta put you in. I got nobody else. I mean Covington sucks, Faber sucks, Gutierrez sucks. Holy moly. I went to the bullpen and I warmed up and before I knew what I was in the game, it was the bottom of the last inning. We're winning five to four. The tying run was on third and the winning run was on first and there was only one out, one bad pitch and we lose the playoff series. I threw the ball home and I watched in slow motion. There was a ground ball to third. My friend Christian fields it. He throws to my buddy Jeff at second who turns the double play and when the third out was made at first, I throw my glove to the ground. I jump and my catcher Eric Andrews arms and I am bombarded by the rest of the team on the pitcher's mound and I was king of the world for like five minutes. The rest of the team, they go back to celebrate and I stay on that pitcher's mound alone. Hey, David, that was a heck of a game, son. I got something for you. Now I still think you suck. Just maybe not totally and completely suck. Here you go. It's yours. You've earned it. This feels good, Mr. T. You know it does. Do you feel normal now? Kind of, I just, I feel like something is still missing. Like a girlfriend, how does one make a friend a girlfriend try a little respect? Respect just a little bit, right? Hi, Ann, I was wondering, I was wondering R-E-S-P-E-C. I was wondering if you'd like to maybe get some hot chocolate and maybe we could warm up a little bit. Oh my gosh, David, are you like asking me out? I told you before that I don't find you attractive. I don't know that any of my friends find you attractive, but you're being kind of funny, asking me about a hot chocolate, and oh my gosh, I said funny is cute. Cute is funny. I think I'm starting to find you sort of cute. I'll totally be your girlfriend. You did it, fool! Let him and Jack it in a girlfriend. Do you feel normal now? Sort of, it just seems like everything is going so fast. David, I just got a letter from a baseball coach in Merrillville, Tennessee. He told me, his buddy saw your pitch, that Statesboro game, and he wants to offer you a baseball scholarship. And we all know a baseball scholarship is a scholarship from God. Scholarship from God? That's what I'm talking about, fool. I know, Mr. T, but I don't want to play baseball anymore. What do you want to do, fool? I think I want to be an actor. You don't want to play baseball. No, I proved all I needed to prove playing baseball. You don't want a girlfriend. Well, maybe eventually I'll have a girlfriend, but I don't want just one girlfriend. Don't worry about that, fool. Your freshman year of college would take care of that. I just want to be normal, and I want to be a normal actor. So I went to college and I studied theater, and I thought I would be a normal actor. And I was cast as Caliban in The Tempest, and this became the Curse of Prospero. And I was cast as the preacher in Backbog Beast Bay by Sam Shepard, and I was mauled by a beast, and this became ripped off by said beast. And I was the swan, and it is Elizabeth Eggloff's the swan. You see, ah, the swan is a swan who metamorphosizes into the perfect representation of a man, but he's wounded. And this was perfect, because this crashes into the world, and this is wounded. I mean, I shouldn't complain because I was included, and I felt like I was a part of something, something larger than myself, and I realized this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be a normal actor, so I did what every normal actor does when they finish college. I went to see an agent. To be in this business, you have to be all business. You see that little kid over there? He's been an iCarly. He's been an M-O-Ws. That is Movies of the Week for those of you not in the biz. He knows that to be in this business, you have to be all business. I mean, you have to find your niche. Like you out there missing the thingy there. See, that might require you to play roles specifically written for somebody with one hand. What are those roles? Have you got a hook? Oh, you used to have a hook. Well, you should get your hook again because you could be a pirate. What about a one-armed guy, check variety? Maybe they're doing the fugitive too. What about a creepy person, like a creepy beggar, or ooh, I know, a zombie. Let me see your best creepy hypnotizing zombie. Go. Way to twist that thing gives me the heebie-jeebies. That was right, you're perfect. For creepy roles, freak roles, I know. Violent role. You have dark hair and olive skin. You could be a Native American. And I was cast as a Native American and the outdoor drama comes. Now, outdoor dramas are different, right? They're outdoors and there's real cannons and guns and the director wanted to use me prominently in the big battle scene. He wanted one of the US soldiers to come down on a horse with a sword and chop my frickin' hand off. So there was blood backstage and I would dip my arm in blood and as the soldier came down and swung his sword, I would sling my arm out, spraying blood through the audience, and then I would slowly crawl downstage right, find a nice innocent boy or girl to stare at as I die. What was awesome? You have freaked those boys and girls out for life. Congratulations. See, we're finding a niche for you. In fact, I got something for you. I went back and I found your old hook-looking thingy. See, I got this for you because I just got off the phone with the director in San Antonio and he's gonna do a new musical about Captain Hook. Captain Hook, Captain Hook, don't look now. You're Captain Hook! I told you you'd be a pirate. And after that, my friend, you are going to be on television. That's right. The dream of every actor, prime time television, all you have to do is put this thingy on and you are the wounded warrior. You are the bus driver just back from Iraq. It's what you always wanted, isn't it? I did always want to be on television. I thought if I was on television then I would be a normal actor. But I couldn't enjoy it because I wasn't on television because I was an actor. I was on television because of this. Everything that I was doing was because of this. If I wanted to be a normal actor, maybe I did need a Luke Skywalker hand. So I went back to that room full of doctors. I went to the chair in the center of the room. Someone read my chart while someone else held up my arm for all to see. Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, and doctor. This young man has a malformation of his right hand. He's an actor and he wants to feel normal. Now we all know the only thing that separates us from the animals are our two opposable thumbs. So let's give this young man back his humanity. I went down that lime green painted hallway. I went back to the basement. I felt the bucket of water, the familiar feeling of the plaster of Paris, the heat of it as it became solid. And this time I was fitted for the most realistic hand in the market. Oh, this two, two solid flesh would melt, fall, fall, resolve itself into a dew. Davey boy, what are you doing? You want to be normal? Now you're like 99.9% of all the other actors in the world and you know what that is? Unemployable, right? I could do readings and one-on-ones, all for no money, all actor. But I then am not shaped for sport of tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking glass. I that am rudely stamped, it's not quite right. But I then am not shaped for sport of tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking glass. I that am rudely, it's not like I was really acting. I was just acting like I had two hands. I that am curtailed of this fair proportion, cheated a feature by dissembling nature, deformed, unfinished, sent before my time into this breathing world scarce half made up. So lamely and unfashionable, the dogs bark at me as I halt by them. My eye in this weak piping time of peace have no delight to pass away the time unless a spy, my shadow and the sun on my own deformity. Rown deformity? This is you. And if there's anything normal about you, it's this. You say this is normal, but I have to be a freak, have to be creepy. When you say this is normal, I don't know what that means. Why don't you ask Pop Pop? That's not funny, Mr. T. Pop Pop. Pop Pop's been gone a really long time. How am I gonna ask Pop Pop? It's your play, fool. He's right, David. It's your play and you can bring me back and ask me anything you'd like. I just, I don't think I could put you on my lap anymore. So here we are. You know that story I told you about my Little League Baseball team, the little potatoes and hard to peel. See, that was just a metaphor for life. You see, we all play this game of life and sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in on the inside, we have to remember to be tough, be proud of the choices you've made. This is who you are and that is all good. You know, I always wanted to be a song and dance man, and now you, you get to do this, but you have to see yourself as what you are and not as what you're not. This, this is just one of the many differences that make you completely and beautifully normal. David Boy, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. I got a job for you. Well, let me guess, a shark victim in the new Jake Gyllenhaal Jaws 3D movie. Jake Gyllenhaal's doing a Jaws 3D movie? That's actually a really good idea, but no, I just got off the phone with the director and he wants to use you in his new movie because you have a hairy ass. I'm sorry, what? How does he know I have a hairy ass? Well, you saw those bushy eyebrows in that five o'clock shadow and he just figures you have a hairy ass. So he doesn't care anything about my head. He's just gonna cast me because I have a hairy butt. Yeah, he wants you to be the hairy thong guy. I think this is the break we're looking for. You're gonna make your mama cry. I know, Mr. T, but it has nothing to do with my hand. I know, just because you have a hairy but donkey don't, you're gonna be in a movie. You still wanna do this business? I can't think of anything else I'd rather do, even though it's gonna make your mama cry. You know that shit's gonna be on IMTP, right? Yes, I know, Mr. T, but I am right here, right now, play in this game as hard as I can, and I am freaking hard to peel. Thank you. Thank you, David. Keep the applause going. That was amazing. That's what we're here today to talk about. How do we make sure that everyone with all kinds of differences are considered normal, and are artists, and are on our stages, and are in our theaters, and are in our galleries, and are seen everywhere? That's what we're here to talk about. I again am Tiffany Wilhelm. I'm with the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. We have a great room full of folks here for those of you that are watching online. We're doing just a little bit of transition, and I just wanted to take a moment to talk through a little bit of why we're here today. Mostly it is due to Ann Mulgrave, wherever she went. Just intuitively knows justice has been a disability advocate for so long, and knows the importance of this conversation about artists with disabilities, and how deeply important it is for all of us talking about arts and accessibility. We can't just be thinking about audiences and access, which is so important as we all know. But if our stages don't reflect all people, this art that we're doing that has the power to change the world is not reaching its potential. So that's what we're here to talk about. Another one of the threads that came through from the LEED conference this week was just how important it's going to be to continue to push ourselves as the sort of arts and disability community to think deeper and to work harder at making sure that our movement, our arts and disability movement, our disability justice movement broadly is again diverse in all of the other ways. So around race, around gender, around trans inclusion, around all of the other ways that we need to make sure that all of the social movements in the arts right now are intersectional, which means that we're thinking about all of those identities that we have that make us whole people. So that's a theme that I think we'll probably touch on today. And we wanna just make sure we put that in a space that that's just really important that we keep working on that and that it takes intention and it takes time and it takes extra effort and it takes all of the things we do in access where we're really inviting people, we're really changing the culture and the way we do things so that we make sure that everyone's way of being in the world is part of what we're doing. So it's exciting. And if we embrace that, it makes all of our lives so much richer than it would be if we did not. I am so excited about all of the people we have here today. I'm so excited that we're live streaming this so that it can be archived so that many more people that are even in the room today can see it and hear what's gonna be said. Working on right now, getting the wheelchair lift to work because all of these things that we do have so many possibilities of moments where it's working and where it's not and just being with ourselves and providing ourselves some forgiveness is what we're always working on. So if you would, just bear with us for a moment and we'll get started in just a minute. So do we.