My 7 years with the company somewhat blend together in my mind - without company lists and programs to help. I'm not sure about the date of the photo below.
Above is a long shot from one of my favorite serious roles, Annie in THE MIRACLE WORKER.
I'm lower left on pic with the young Helen Keller played by a girl named Heidi. She was beyond wonderful.
In one scene Helen signed letters into a dog's paw. And one night the dog in our cast walked offstage in the beginning of this scene. (Perhaps acting was not in his bloodlines.)
Mr. Keller and I continued the dialogue, knowing that soon we would reach the point when the father tells Annie that teaching Helen is a hopeless task - she doesn't know the signs are language - it's just a game... after all, she's signing to a dog.
With no dog I wasn't sure what we were going to do... But... about two lines from the moment we needed the dog, our Helen picked up her doll from its buggy. And she signed into the doll's hand. Mr. Keller substituted "doll" for "dog" and we continued on as written except for that one word.
During act break Dr. Hansen asked Heidi, "How did you think of using the doll?" Looking surprised, as if it was no big deal, she said, "Well, the dog wasn't there."
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