Ali Stroker to be A Keynote Speaker At The 2021 SETC Virtual Convention In March

Ali Stroker, winner of the 2019 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, will share her passion for theatre with SETC members in a keynote during the 2021 SETC Virtual Convention.

The Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Annual Convention will be held March 3-7, 2021.

Stroker, who uses a wheelchair after being paralyzed from the chest down at age 2 in an automobile accident, has achieved a number of firsts in the theatre industry. She is the first person who uses a wheelchair ... to graduate from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts drama program, to appear in a Broadway role, to be nominated for a Tony Award, and to win a Tony Award. Her Tony win came for her portrayal of Ado Annie in Daniel Fish's revival of Oklahoma!, a role that called for her not just to act and sing, but to dance as well. "I find it to be fascinating that often people don't think I can dance," Stroker told The New York Times in 2019. "Who says that dance isn't turning on wheels? Who says dancing isn't throwing your arms up in the air and grabbing someone else's arms to be propelled across the stage?" Encouraged by her parents to use her talents, Stroker began performing as a child. After earning her degree from NYU, she appeared on 12 episodes of The Glee Project competition, placing second and winning a guest role on Fox TV's Glee. Stroker made her Broadway debut as Anna in Deaf West's 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. "I'm very aware that when I was a little girl I wasn't seeing anybody like me, and on days when I'm exhausted or discouraged about something, that lights a fire," she told The New York Times. "I hope that for young people in chairs who feel that this is too hard, that they see that being in a chair is like getting a secret key to an unknown door - that they see what I'm doing and are reassured that anything is possible."

For more information on Ali Stroker and other keynote speakers and offerings at this year's SETC Convention go to https://convention.setc.org/.

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