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In 'Wonder' the Musical, Young Actors with Facial Differences Find Their Voices Onstage
The musical cast two young actors with real facial differences in the lead role to authentically depict bullying and resilience, ending a two-month run at Harvard's American Repertory Theater.
- The American Repertory Theater at Harvard staged a musical of R.J. Palacio's Wonder featuring actors with facial differences, with a two-month run ending on Feb. 15.
- Amid pandemic-era development, consultants and casting teams faced challenges as director Taibi Magar encountered the book in 2021, and consultant Matthew Joffee argued roles should include actors with facial differences.
- Max Voehl, 10-year-old from Massachusetts with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, said playing Auggie felt like playing himself, while Garrett McNally, with Treacher Collins syndrome, found his role via a Facebook group.
- Performers and family members said the role gave them a platform to change perceptions, and Jules McNally urged audiences to leave with empathy and act to create safer communities.
- Unlike the 2017 film adaptation, which used makeup and prosthetics on a 2017 film actor who wore prosthetics, Taibi Magar developed the musical during the pandemic emphasizing authentic casting.
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In 'Wonder' the musical, young actors with facial differences find their voices onstage
It was first a best selling novel, then a movie and now “Wonder” has been turned into a musical. This story, which recently finished its run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, tells the inspiring story of a boy with a rare genetic condition known as Treacher Collins syndrome, which caus
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Total News Sources30
Leaning Left10Leaning Right2Center13Last UpdatedBias Distribution52% Center
Bias Distribution
- 52% of the sources are Center
52% Center
L 40%
C 52%
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