"So, what did you think when you saw the woman in the wheelchair?" I ask Dave.
We're driving home from New York. Tonight we went to see Wicked, a wildly entertaining musical that's the "untold story of the witches of Oz." I'd gone to an event a few months ago, and had gotten two free tickets. Wicked's about friendship and popularity and pretension and green skin and love and power and evil and good and, oh yes, glittery shoes. The Wicked Witch's sister, Nessarose, is paralyzed. As drawn in as I was to the show, I was a bit distracted by her.
"I was definitely noticing her, I felt a connection," Dave says.
"Me, too," I say.
The two of us view the world through a different lens than other couples we know. We notice people with special powers. We feel something for them, a certain relatability. But I tend to look into things way more than Dave does.
"So why is it they HAD to get into how she felt the guy couldn't love her because she was in a wheelchair?" I say.
"Uh-oh, here we go," Dave says.
"Nessa was gorgeous. Do you think they'd EVER cast a person in a wheelchair to be Glinda the Good Witch? Doubt it. And if they did, they have to work it into the plot somehow. Like, you know, Glinda got into a car accident or something. Because they always have to call attention to the person's DISABILITIES, they can't JUST be gorgeous or good singers or talented actors. In the movies too."
"Um, honey? It was a great musical," Dave says, sweetly.
"Definitely. And they probably wouldn't make the Wicked Witch a woman in a wheelchair either because they'd be all, 'OHHHH, NOOOOO, we can't make a person with a disability look BAD.' And I am SURE they'd never cast a person in a wheelchair as a MUNCHKIN because that would be too much atypical-ness in one wheelchair!!!"
By this point, I have worked myself into a tizzy and need to be quiet, which I am sure Dave does not mind.
My head keeps spinning. Now I am picturing Max as the handsome lead guy, and thinking, "Nope, wouldn't happen, nobody would be able to understand him."
Then I start laughing.
"What?!" Dave says.
"I've got the perfect Broadway show for Max to star in: Car Wash, The Musical!"
How amazing would it be to see an actor or actress in a wheelchair starring in a Broadway show that has nothing to do with disabilities?
Photo/Joan Marcus
