Madison Ferris | |
---|---|
Born | Pennsylvania,, U.S. |
Alma mater | Muhlenberg College |
Occupation(s) | Actress, dancer |
Years active | 2014–present |
Known for | The Glass Menagerie 2017 Revival |
Madison Ferris is an American actress, best known for portraying Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie.
Ferris moved to New York City, and got her first professional performance opportunity as a paid dancer at the Joyce Theater. [1] Ferris performed in two dance pieces, Ballet (New York) and The Show Must Go On by French choreographer Jerome Bel. [2] [3]
Ferris has Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and was the first wheelchair user to play a lead on Broadway. [4] [5]
Ferris was traveling in Australia when the casting notice for Sam Gold's revival of The Glass Menagerie was announced. [1] Ferris flew back to the US for a callback, then was asked back again to read with the play's star, Sally Field. [2] A short time after, Ferris was cast in the role of Laura Wingfield.
Ferris made history as Broadway's first lead actor in a wheelchair. [4] The show opened with the house lights on as Amanda slowly brought Laura up the steps to the stage, right in front of the audience. [6] In discussing how she gave Laura agency, Ferris says,
"We discussed how to make her human, and how to make her a subject of the play rather than an object...We wanted her to be strong; we wanted her to have a voice, to have opinions, to love her family, to want to hang out with Jim O'Connor." [7]
Martha Plimpton is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in Rollover (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies (1985). She has also appeared in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Shy People (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Parenthood (1989), Samantha (1991), Small Town Murder Songs (2011), Frozen II (2019), and Mass (2021).
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accolades throughout her career spanning six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two British Academy Film Awards. She was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, the National Medal of Arts in 2014, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2019, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2023.
The Glass Menagerie is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of The Gentleman Caller.
Amanda Michael Plummer is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her film roles, including Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), The Fisher King (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). Plummer won a Tony Award in 1982 for her performance in Agnes of God. She most recently appeared in the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).
Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director known for his work on stage and screen. He first gained prominence for his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Tony Kushner's two-part epic play Angels in America (1993–1994), for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination. He has since acted in acclaimed Broadway revivals of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (2011) and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (2017).
Pamela Payton-Wright was an American actress.
Cherry Jones is an American actress. She started her career in theater as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Olivier Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
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Benedict John Greenwood, better known as Ben Chaplin, is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Washington Square, The Thin Red Line, Birthday Girl, Murder by Numbers, Stage Beauty, The New World, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Dorian Gray, Cinderella, Snowden, The Legend of Tarzan, and The Dig. His TV roles include Game On, Mad Dogs and The Nevers.
Julie Haydon was an American Broadway, film and television actress who received second billing as the female lead in the Ben Hecht–Charles MacArthur 1935 film vehicle for Noël Coward, The Scoundrel. After her Hollywood career ended in 1937, she turned to the theatre, originating the roles of Kitty Duval in The Time of Your Life (1939) and Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie (1945).
Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018). She has also been Tony-nominated for her roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), Peter and the Starcatcher (2012), The Glass Menagerie (2014), and Mother Play (2024).
Joanna Miles is an American actress. She received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1973 film production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.
Joyce Grant was a UK-based South African actress known for her comedic roles. Grant was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and her father encouraged her to move to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. When she returned to South Africa, her roles included: "Lola" in William Inge's Come Back Little Sheba and as "Laura Wingfield" in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. At the end of the 1950s she returned permanently to London and appeared in: The Happy Apple, Something’s Afoot, The Club, Deathtrap and Tonight at Eight-thirty. On television she was in Gideon's Way "How to Retire without Really Working".
The Glass Menagerie is a 1950 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Tennessee Williams and Peter Berneis is based on the 1944 Williams play of the same title. It was the first of his plays to be adapted for the screen.
The depiction of disability in the media plays a major role in molding the public perception of disability. Perceptions portrayed in the media directly influence the way people with disabilities are treated in current society. "[Media platforms] have been cited as a key site for the reinforcement of negative images and ideas in regard to people with disabilities."
The Glass Menagerie is a 1973 American drama tv film based on the 1944 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. It is directed by Anthony Harvey and stars Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Joanna Miles and Michael Moriarty. It marked the third screen adaptation of the play. It originally aired on ABC as part of the network's ABC Theater series.
The Glass Menagerie is a 1966 American made-for-television drama film based on the 1944 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. It is directed by Michael Elliott and stars Shirley Booth, Hal Holbrook, Barbara Loden and Pat Hingle. Sponsored by Xerox, it originally aired on December 8, 1966 as an installment of CBS Playhouse. The adaptation received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Dramatic Program and Outstanding Actress (Booth).
Sally Field is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and she has been nominated for a Tony Award and two BAFTA Awards.
Amy Trigg is a British actress and writer. She is best known for the role of Agnes in The Little Big Things, for which she won the Olivier Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a musical in 2024.