In wheelchair basketball and rugby, the chairs are considered a part of the player and can earn a fellow player a foul is they encounter a competitor’s chair.
After she was paralyzed at the result of an auto accident when she was two, Ali Stoker has made her wheelchair a part of her and has not let it destroy her dreams.
The first actor who uses a wheelchair to win the Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Musical for her performance in “Oklahoma”, Stoker is set to receive the inaugural Christina Trivigno Advocate Award as a part of the TDF annual fundraising event on October 15.
The award is named for TDG colleague Christina Trivigno who died as a result of cancer last year. A wheelchair uses, Trivigno said that she found inspiration in Stoker.
TDF Executive Director Deeksha Gaur issued a statement saying, “Ali Stroker was an inspiration to Christina Trivigno, our beloved colleague for whom our new Advocate Award is named. Christina spoke often about the joy of seeing Ali perform, and in particular the way she has shifted the narrative around disability and made theatre accessibility an industry-wide priority. We cannot think of a better recipient for this inaugural year.”
TDF notes that henceforth, the Trivigno Advocate Award will be given to “an extraordinary artist, activist, or creator in our community”.
Chairman and CEO of the Shubert Organization Bob Wankel is also being honoured and will receive the TDF Founders Award, “in recognition of his commitment to TDF and its mission to increase access to the arts”.
In the statement, Deeksha Gaur spoke on Wankel saying, “with over five decades of service, Bob Wankel has had an incredible and lasting influence on the American theatre. He has always encouraged TDF to dream big and be bold in our pursuit of a more inclusive audience for Broadway, and he has supported us through his advocacy, philanthropy, and the partnership of The Shubert Organization. We’re so proud to honor this New York City legend with the TDF Founders Award.”