Ready, willing and — disabled

Born without a right arm from the forearm, Curry was hardly out of central casting. The Jesuit brother was working toward a doctorate in theater history at New York University when he went to that audition. Twenty-seven years later, more than 5,000 disabled people are probably glad he never made it far.
Incensed, it was after that incident that Curry dedicated himself to the idea of forming an arts academy for the disabled.
The National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped was soon born in a downtown Manhattan loft and since that time has encouraged its students to work in the arts, from acting and dancing to playwriting.
“It’s none of our doing — we present the arts to them and it changes them,” Curry, who is now 61, said last week.
Having expanded from Curry’s original idea, the NTWH now boasts campuses in Manhattan and a residential college in Maine.
Curry has remained busy since NTWH’s inception. A tireless director, teacher, administrator, baker, author, and fundraiser, he has rarely taken a break from what is now his life’s work.
One of the NTWH’s biggest successes is a program that brings disabled people from Ireland to its Maine campus for a summer workshop where they study and work alongside their American counterparts.
“The Irish have such a love of the written word and are so literate, and the Americans have such a can-do attitude — it rubs off on each other, the combination of both cultures is amazing,” Curry said.
In an odd coincidence, it was during one of Curry’s rare breaks from the NTWH that the Irish program got its start. During a sabbatical seven years ago, Curry, an marine buff, was attending a boat-building school in Maine when he received word of a phone call from Belfast regarding the NTWH.
Curry didn’t know who called, but he’d heard that Belfast, Maine, was a town just up the road. Intrigued, he drove there. Upon arrival, he found a picturesque community with a mayor who doubled as a real estate agent. Together, they toured the town. It was then that Curry viewed what would eventually become the NTWH’s Belfast campus, an old opera house that was up for sale.
Upon returning to boating school, Curry learned that the call had actually come from the Belfast in Northern Ireland, from a fellow Jesuit, aptly named James Joyce. Joyce had heard of Curry’s NTWH through his own work with interfaith communities in Belfast, and thought that the program is just what his disabled charges needed.
Since the program began six years ago, more than 20 students have had the chance to come from Ireland to study with NTWH.
One such student, Yvonne Lynch, is currently working toward her doctorate in Irish Theater at Trinity College. Lynch has been attending the summer workshops since its inception.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what develops,” she said of the options for disabled performers in Irish theater. “Though it has still yet to materialize, the change is slowly starting to happen.”
Impressive to Lynch was the amenities at the Belfast, Maine, campus.
“It’s great because of the level of training you receive,” she said. “It’s a nice performance environment, and I love the facilities.”
Donal Toolan, another repeat Irish student at NTWH, is now working in the performing arts with a British company called Grey Eye. Currently assisting Irish director Damien O’Donnell on a script that deals with the disabled, he also credits NTWH for helping him hone his craft.
“The facilities stood out, as well as having an accessible environment,” he said. “These programs provide an extraordinary opportunity. . . . At an Irish level, things will take place to enhance that.”
Members of this year’s class of students will display their hard work with its New York premiere of “I Wish You Love” at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Aug. 26. A show steeped in the golden age of radio, all proceeds will benefit NTWH.
“It’s a variety show, with songs, scenes, radio drama . . . disabled students can do all the roles, so it really takes the lid off any casting,” Curry said.
Curry can’t hide his enthusiasm about being able to bring the show on the road this year.
“It’s a logistical nightmare, but well worth it,” he said. “We had been bringing people up to Maine to see the shows until finally someone suggested that we bring the show to New York. The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is a great venue.”
It was at the urging of board members that the NTWH decided to travel with the show this year, and Curry’s current project is to raise the funds so that their annual show will be able to travel internationally — first premiered in Maine, then taken to Westhampton, and finally over to Ireland for shows in both Dublin and Belfast.
“It breaks my heart that nobody in Ireland can see us,” Curry said. “But it is doable. It just takes money.”
“I Wish You Love” will feature the seven current Irish students in a planned tribute to John Sullivan, a former student who died last year. He and his widow, Suzanne Talbot Sullivan, first came to NTWH together, shortly after getting married. Talbot Sullivan is also in attendance this year, and plans to take the stage for a monologue about loss in what should be a “very poignant moment,” according to Curry.
NTWH is not solely focused on the theater. Trained by the Jesuits as a baker, Curry saw the Workshop’s Belson Bakery grow out of his many collected recipes. He saw it as a convenient way to teach his students a trade they can use to supplement their income while trying to break into acting.
“The disabled can’t waiter when they are trying to be actors and actresses,” he said. “Here they can learn a craft.”
The bakery, which is in Belfast, Maine, caters to those who help the disabled as well. Guide dogs are often supplied to the blind and others with disabilities, but Curry cited the fact that dogs are usually only trained for certain disabilities.
“If you don’t have a specific disability, you don’t get a dog, so we started training puppies and then baking dog biscuits for them,” said Curry, who hopes to market the biscuits nationally.
The NTWH also offers programs in the fine arts, such as painting, pottery, and photography. There is even a puppetry workshop.
Curry’s efforts have garnered national attention. Among the numerous honors and awards he has received, he is this year’s Irish Business Organization’s Humanitarian Award winner, which will be presented at the IBO’s Annual Gala Ball this Oct. 15.
“I’m deeply touched,” he said. “I don’t need the award, but we need the money,” he added, stressing the importance of donations to the organization’s future.
NTWH’s Cabaret, which has performed both nationally and internationally, will be performing at the IBO Gala when Curry receives the award.
Curry takes pride in what his students have been able to prove to themselves and others over the years, and does not expect to stop anytime soon. He is, after all, having fun.
“The power of the arts changes these students,” Curry said enthusiastically. “I love this.”
To learn more about the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped, visit its Web site, www.ntwh.org.