NYer Of The Week: Director Lets City Kids With Stutters Speak Their Minds
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Eight years ago, the latest New Yorker of the Week decided to open a theater company to give stuttering city youth a place where they could make their voices heard. NY1's Cheryl Wills filed the following report. When Taro Alexander was 11 years old, his stutter made it difficult for him to communicate.
"I would do anything to avoid stuttering and the easiest way to do that is to not talk," says Alexander.
Now, more than 26 years later, he has no problem speaking his mind, and he even created Our Time Theatre Company, a free theater program for kids who stutter.
"I didn't see anything that was creative and fun, a place for kids who stutter to come and just be themselves and know that they can stutter and succeed in life," says Alexander.
Every Saturday, 24 kids write their own short plays and songs. This past weekend, they held their final performance.
Jonathan Greig, who spent six years in the company, just finished his first year at Dartmouth College and came back to volunteer.
"Because I spent so much time hiding who I was, I used Our Time as a way to pour out all my ideas, emotions, feelings," says Greig. "He's been able to create this place where everyone is equal."
The kids are all different ages and are from all five boroughs.
"What I see happening for these kids is an immediate sense of belonging, because they see other people who are like them," says Alexander.
Two years ago, the kids starting recording songs that they wrote, with the help of some iconic artists like Carly Simon, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and created a CD called "Listen."
"If you had told me that I was going to be recording a CD in John Bon Jovi's studio because I stuttered four years ago, I never would have believed you," says actor Nick Viagas of Our Time.
"I get inspired by these kids every day," says Alexander. "I certainly did not have the courage to do what they were doing when I was a kid, and when I see them doing what they're doing and just being themselves, it really does inspire me everyday to conquer my fears."
So, for giving kids the courage to step into the spotlight, Taro Alexander is the latest New Yorker of the Week.
If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:
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