The actors participated in a “simulation experience” in which they wore sleep shades and earplugs to experience some of what it feels like to be blind and deaf, followed by a Q&A with deaf-blind students and staff to get more insight on their struggles and experiences. To get ready for the performance, the actors who will be putting on “The Miracle Worker” had the opportunity to walk in Keller’s footsteps with the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC). Schwartz, a fourth-grade student at New Jersey’s Watchung Elementary School, has performed in the Off-Broadway in “Madeline’s Christmas” as well as local productions of “School of Rock” and “How to Eat Like a Child.” Hogg, a graduate of Northwestern University, began acting at the age of 9 and performed in “Bye Bye Birdie” and the National Tour of “Show Boat.” This time, 10-year-old Ayla Schwartz will take the lead role of Keller with Betsy Hogg as Anne Sullivan. In its 1959 Broadway debut, “The Miracle Worker” starred Elmhurst native Patty Duke as Keller and Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan, Keller’s instructor and lifelong companion. We know our audiences will be moved by this production.” “It is about the power of motivation and our will to connect with other people. “‘The Miracle Worker’ is the true story of two inspirational figures,” said Taryn Sacramone, executive director of Queens Theatre. “The Miracle Worker” chronicles Keller’s experiences and struggles of learning how to navigate her prison of silence and darkness with the help of Anne Sullivan, a teacher who would become Keller’s lifelong companion. Helen Keller, who lived in Forest Hills from 1917 to 1938, was born without disabilities until an illness (believed to be meningitis or scarlet fever) left her both deaf and blind at the age of 19 months.

The story of author and activist Helen Keller’s beginnings will be brought to life next month when the Queens Theatre puts on “The Miracle Worker.”

Heroic story of Helen Keller, ‘The Miracle Worker,’ to debut at Queens Theatre in May

The miracle worker movie