Actor Tim O`Malley plays a minority in ”NoBODY`S Perfect,” the benefit comedy revue running Tuesday through Dec. 16 at the Second City E.T.C. theater. The role didn`t require any special study, though, such as mastering a dialect or learning something of an immigrant`s culture.
Of the six-member cast, he`s the only performer who has full use of his body. The others are either deaf, wheelchairbound, visually impaired or blind. O`Malley`s unique perspective has produced an unusual insight, he said.
”The able-bodied have more disabilities than the disabled do. They`re not stopped by the obstacles we put in our own way, like fear of failure. They`ve removed their mental handicaps. You don`t have to feel sorry for the disabled. These guys know how to blow stuff off and get on with life.”
That`s a message the show`s producer, the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, hopes the audience takes home, said Amy Serpe, Schwab`s director of special projects and advocacy. Visually impaired since birth, Serpe wrote the show and is in its cast.
”People look at someone in a wheelchair and say, `I`m so lucky. What would I do if that happened to me?` ” she said. ”What you`d do is cope. We want to show on stage that a disability is only as limiting as you make it. It`s not the end of life.”
”If we can change one person`s perception of what it means to have a disability,” she added, ”we`ve done our job.”
If that`s the case, Serpe realized her ambition before the show opened. Nate Herman, the show`s able-bodied director, considers himself the first convert.
”I`ve never worked with disabled actors before. I didn`t know what to expect,” said Herman, who has worked on and off at Second City for the last 25 years. ”During auditions I discovered an amazing array of talent. We could have cast the show three times over.”
For more information and performance schedule call 312-522-2010, ext. 5087.
