Theatre Adventure is proud to announce, one of our esteemed alumni, Galen Spiegler, has recently published his first book: “The Ability Almanac: 365 Tidbits of Crip Wisdom in Bite-Sized Pieces.”
Within one month of being published, Galen’s book hit number one in the “New Releases in Disabled People Demographic Studies” category!
The book is user friendly. Each chapter is dedicated to one month. Within each chapter, there is a subsection for each week. Subsequently, a passage for each day will give the reader a slice of what it means to live with a disability. These daily readings go well past the superficial and into the heart of the Crip life. The reader will notice that some words have been made bold. The definitions of these bolded words can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. By taking this cultural journey, the reader will be able to interact with the disability community and other minority groups authentically.
If the knowledge discussed in these pages is shared, the world will be more peaceful, understanding, and kind.
Tha Ability Almanac on Facebook
Galen, who currently lives in Keene, New Hampshire, earned his degree at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio area, where he studied psychology with a focus on the mental impact of having a physical disability. He is currently preparing to move to Cincinnati to pursue an Masters in Mental Health Counseling so he may work with patients who are rehabilitating in physical therapy to help take care of their mental and sexual health.
Galen at the The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
After that, Galen intends to pursue a doctorate in clinical and organizational psychology where he aims to, “Revolutionize how we hire people to work with people with disabilities, so we can cut down on everything from misunderstandings to abuse.”
Galen Spiegler and his mother smiling and hugging.
Theatre Adventure
At the age of eleven, Galen helped launch the first ever Theatre Adventure summer program in 2004 by joining our original troupe of actors with disabilities.
Galen performs in the role of the Wizard in a dress rehearsal for The Best of Wizard of Oz.
In the 2006 production of The Best of Wizard of Oz , Galen was then thirteen and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of skipping down the yellow brick road so he played the Wizard. Galen recalls, “When I was waiting for my part in rehearsal, I noticed Darlene working with the light board and I thought, why am I up here when I could be comfortably off stage working behind the scenes. That was my pivot point. From there I became a mentor slash light geek.”
Galen running the light board for Theatre Adventure’s 2007 production Peter Pan.
Galen returned to Theatre Adventure in the summer of 2012 to work in the tech department filming a short documentary of the Summer Program titled Theatre Adventure on the Silver Screen. Galen was able to strap a camcorder on his wheelchair to create smooth dolly like cinematic effects.
Here a clip of the documentary, “Theatre Adventure on the Silver Screen,” which Galen helped to create. You will notice that Galen attached a camcorder to his wheelchair to capture dynamic footage of our students and their creative process.
By the summer of 2013 Galen’s psychology studies had really taken off and as he puts it, “I didn't want to leave the comfort of my apartment on Wright State University's campus outside of Dayton, Ohio.”
His vision and passion launched him out into the world to greet new adventures. We are so grateful he was able to leave his mark on our Theatre Adventure community and are looking forward to watching his work unfold.
Galen explains, “Even though I am no longer part of the day to day program, I will always hold Theatre Adventure close to my heart. It is not every day you get a personal concert of “Bad to the Bone” or see five people playing the same character and pull it off.”
Well put Galen, and from all of us at Theatre Adventure, Break a Leg!
