Broadway ‘trailblazer’ to lead master class on campus

“An Open Conversation and Master Class with Ali Stroker, Broadway Trailblazer” will be presented on Friday, April 29 by the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater at Yale, in partnership with the Provost Committee on Resources for Students and Employees with Disabilities.

The event, which is part of the Fridays @ Five series, will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Ballroom at 220 York St. It is free and open to the public.

The class will include a conversation and Q&A with Stroker, after which she will give a short performance and lead a master class with Yale performers.

Stroker recently appeared in the acclaimed revival of “Spring Awakening” on Broadway. When she was cast in the Deaf West Theater’s production, she became the first actress in a wheelchair to appear in a Broadway show. Stroker has been paralyzed from the chest down since the age of 2 when she was injured in an automobile accident. Alterations to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre were made so that Stroker could use the backstage areas of the theater. On stage, the actress used a specially constructed “period” wheel chair to fit in with the late 19th-century setting of the show. Stroker participated fully in the show’s elaborate choreography, using her chair to dart around the stage and substituting “wheelies” for some of the leaps called for in the dances. 

Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater celebrates its 10th year

In addition to her work on and off-Broadway, Stroker has performed as a solo artist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and New York’s Town Hall, as well as concert appearances at Lincoln Center. A humanitarian and advocate, Stroker is a co-chair of Women Who Care, which supports United Cerebral Palsy of New York City, and is a founding member of Be More Heroic, an anti-bullying campaign that tours the country connecting with thousands of students each year. She has traveled to South Africa with ARTS InsideOut, where she has led theater workshops and classes for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.

The Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater celebrates the American musical theater as an art form reflective of American culture, history, mores, and aesthetics.  Begun in 2004 as a series of master classes in composition, the curriculum now also offers courses in history, lyric writing, libretto writing, and performance. Instructors are scholars and professional composers, directors, lyricists, librettists, and performers.

In addition to coursework, the Shen Curriculum offers the Fridays @ Five master class series, which bridges the liberal arts study of the genre with the professional world of musical theater beyond Yale. Fridays @ Five guests include Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Pulitzer and Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as newcomers making their way in the field.

Major support for the Shen Curriculum has been provided by Ted ’66 and Mary Jo Shen, and by Kara Unterberg ’87. Additional support has been provided by Tobé Malawista; Carla Shen ’99 and Chris Schott; and Bobby Lopez ’97 and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.