May 042006
The Minnesota Opera and the Humphrey Institute are co-sponsoring a public forum on Wednesday, May 10th entitled The Elephant Man: A Conversation on Disability, Policy, and Opera. More information on the event can be found in this PDF file. This event is a tie-in to the Minnesota Opera’s new production of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. I’m anticipating a good discussion since the panelists include Senator David Durenberger and my friend John Tschida, Vice President of Public Affairs at Courage Center. My only knowledge of the Merrick’s story is from David Lynch’s film, which is probably much trippier in tone than this opera. I’d love to see part of the discussion focus on how people with disabilities are portrayed in other media venues.
I promised my friend Lani Willis, Communications Director at the Minnesota Opera, that I would spread the word about this event. I’m asking all of you to do the same. I mean, c’mon, how many times are we going to see an event with the words “disability” and “opera” in the title?
