Transcript
Speaker: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Able Voices Podcast. I'm Dr. Rhoda Bernard, founding managing director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education and the assistant chair of the Music Education Department at Berklee College of Music.
Speaker: and I am proud to present this podcast featuring disabled artists and arts educators. We are inviting artists with disabilities to be guest hosts for the Able Voices podcast. Today, you'll meet our next guest host, Tony Memel.
Speaker: Tony Memel is a singer, songwriter, speaker, and teacher with unique charisma and creativity. Though he was born with one hand, he taught himself to play the guitar professionally by building a special cast that he designed out of guerrilla tape.
Speaker: He has toured 47 of the 50 states, 25 countries, and has worked with 16 countries virtually sharing his music and his message of hard work, determination, and resilience.
Speaker: His work ranges from visiting schools, hospitals, and churches to writing and arranging music for children, composing symphonies, performing in historic concert venues,
Speaker: and helping people with hand and limb differences like his to develop their own adaptive methods that allow them to make music part of their lives. Tony grew up in, oh, I can't say that, Tony. Where did you grow up? Waukesha, Wisconsin. Thank you, Waukesha, Wisconsin, and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and two sons.
Speaker: He enjoys playing basketball, swimming, hiking, and cooking and trying new foods especially if hot sauce is involved.
Speaker: All right, everybody, welcome to the Able Voices pod. I am your guest host today, Tony Memel, singer, songwriter, speaker, and teacher. And I am so, so glad to be here as your your guest and to be with a special guest today. So as a professional touring guitar player, I have had the opportunity to meet fascinating artists,
Speaker: hardworking people all over the world. And today my guest is someone I'm glad to call a friend and someone who has loads of experience and value to share that I know is going to make your day better. He's acted in Shakespeare plays on stage. You may have seen him on CBS or NBC in shows like The Code or the legendary Law and Order SVU. Love it.
Speaker: He's an author and has a new book that just released in 2025 and he does it all with one hand. Please welcome to the pod, my friend, David Harrell. Hey, there we go. Hey, who says who says one-handed people can't clap? Yeah, two of us are doing it right now. of us Well, David, I'm so glad you're here today. how How are you doing, man? How's it going?
Speaker: I am good. I'm good. i I hope I put my dog away, so there could be some muffled barts. there you go But... ah Other than that, no, I'm good, man. I'm um i'm enjoying the spring.
Speaker: I'm enjoying, i you know, my family, we now live in Savannah, Georgia. And so like the azaleas are blooming. And so it's like these pops of color. It's just really, really nice. So yeah. Isn't that gorgeous that that spring in the south? we We have these beautiful flowering trees coming up right now, too. And the weather has been like between 70 and 80 degrees each day. Just like really this beautiful transition time and like just spring just really awakens here in ah in a new way.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. no You spend time in the south and the north, right? Correct. i was I was born in the South. I was born about an hour South of Savannah in a small town called Brunswick, which is near St. Simon's Island, Jekyll Island, these kind of very touristy places.
Speaker: And um that's where you know i spent my entire childhood. And then I i i grew up and, or I kind of lived around the country, kind of going to school, working regionally in theater. And then I moved to New York City and spent like 14 years, close to 14 years in New York City.
Speaker: Wow. So, you you know, just like you just brought up an interesting point. I would love to know a little bit more about that early part of your life. You know, you were born and what was your family life like immediately in reaction to, to your birth and, and your support system around you? What were some early, you know, things that were interesting, challenging, um you know, that for, for your family and the stories that they tell you about those early days?
Speaker: Sure. i think, you know, i was born in the, middle, late 20th century. So you know there was no ultrasound. there was there wasn't There was no sort of pretext of what was what was to come. So there was no expectation of that.
Speaker: The story I tell a lot, which has been told to me was you know my dad is a huge baseball fan and and he wanted his kid to play baseball. So he brought a baseball glove to the hospital you know as my first gift.
Speaker: And They came and told him you know that i was I was born without my right hand. And i i feel I was very fortunate to have a father who who, and I'm not sure how how he found a sense of resilience or a sense of...
Speaker: basically not letting this limitation per se, in his own perception, define me in my first moments. The story is that he kind of you know went, collected himself in the bathroom, probably cried a little bit and But he came back and he and he told like his brother and you know the family that was gathered along with him that his kid was going to play baseball left hand.
Speaker: And then that was his first sort of statement about me. And I think there was a promise made by both of my parents. you know I was never going to be different.
Speaker: And I think that was a ah determination for them. So I think that that was the fortune that I had was was I think I came at a time where what is it, the dawn of Aquarius or, you know, you know this this sort of collective consciousness was changing in a way ah to to their generation and they saw possibilities. They saw things beyond what had been.
Speaker: think there was a ah curiosity of of of what could be done and ah and in ah in a creative sort of way. And and my mother was um an educator, she but and she found her way into to special education. She she interned at a at a facility for individuals with intellectual and and physical disabilities as she was kind of ah in high school and and and beginning her undergrad.
Speaker: And she was drawn to to to working with with those students and and helping them find their better, you know, their their best selves to to encourage them to to succeed. And I think I came along and it was just within that same sort of mindset that she had was like she worked for a bit of inclusion, not only for me, but but for those students. And so so so kind of having those two as my parents, those two forces was was very beneficial
Speaker: because I think you're you know you're a little younger than me, but I but but i think you know not by much. I think a couple generations ahead of us, you know though those opportunities may may not have always been given.
Speaker: And even even within my generation, I know that there were they're friends that I've talked to that you know their parents really kind of more or less sort of hid them away or kind of said like, here, let's let's that like go into the world a little bit. But but I was fortunate that both of my parents were were pretty pro proactive in that. And, and that, um,
Speaker: And that also, you know i but being in a little town, ah you know and I certainly was the only person I knew that looked like me, you know and no one else, had there they that didn't really exist a lot. So there were there were there were you know issues that came with that, but also there was community that also ah became supportive and and kind of allow me to be included.
Speaker: Yeah. i was curious about that. Like, did they seek opportunities and, uh, in like a local, you know, big city like Atlanta or Jacksonville or something like that to like, have you, you know, get connected with a local hospital or a prosthetist other like children that were similar to you?
Speaker: Very. Yeah. What the story my mom says is, uh, mean, pretty soon like they, you know, they're, they, they were at a church, I believe it was the first Methodist church there in Brunswick. And, um,
Speaker: They came home and there were like covered dishes, you know, and and some other folks there. ah and And one of those first folks was connected with the Shriners Hospital and introduced my parents to the Shriners Hospital within the first few days I was at home. So um so they they had no other context or no no other sort of ah pathway. So they were like, well, let's take this path, not let them to the Shriners,
Speaker: And think I went to first hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, which was about an hour and a half away or so. And then my grandparents were kind of in Northeast Georgia, a small town called Augusta.
Speaker: And not too far from that, there was another hospital in South Carolina, in Greenville, South Carolina. And so... My grandparents, who was you know having them involved was was also kind of a big thing. they could you know They could help out a little bit more.
Speaker: So that hospital became kind of the spot that we went to. So I think my first prosthetic was within I can't remember if it was like six weeks or six months, it was the You know, that whole mitt, the winter mitten looking one. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. So I started sporting that one pretty, pretty young and and really went through the the Shriners um all the way to 18.
Speaker: And so, so, yeah, so, that so, yeah you know, they certainly. they were like, let's take any pathway that feels like we're having momentum and moving forward, you know, some capacity.
Speaker: Well, so you went from that winter mitten looking one. Did you, what are some other tools that you used, you know, as you were growing up and were they particularly for, you know, going through school, cosmetic, were they functional, like in a, in a way that helped you to do things that you were passionate about, you know, what helped you or or didn't?
Speaker: Yeah. I, you know, certainly went from the mitt to the hook. Um, and and and then had the hook until about fifth grade. I do remember in fifth grade, was 1985, and tragically, it's the day the the Challenger ah exploded. And I left that day to go and and be fitted for a myoelectric hand.
Speaker: So so it was it was probably one of the earlier kids that got to use the the Mayos once they sort of started making them more, and the you know, providing more of an open market for those.
Speaker: and And then i I wore that kind of through middle school. And then I probably kind of, I don't know if I kept them, I don't know if i kept a Mayo or kind of went back to the hook.
Speaker: I do know that the hook, was helpful. I certainly remember learning to tie my shoes as a kid with the hook. I remember um you know working probably with occupational therapists or or or other educators, you know using my arm to pick things up and to to do things.
Speaker: But also it was uncomfortable. Sometimes it was it you know it helped it at certain points, but running around and playing. Also, there was, I think, a there was a stigma to it in and being called Captain Hook by other kids, scaring kids. I remember um having almost a guilty feeling of of going into a space and having kids literally cry or run away in and kind of curling in fear. And and then I think there's that that weird archetype in a way about Captain Hook and about being you know this villain, this sort of very, very scary presence.
Speaker: And so I think, I don't know how much I really understood that until later, kind of going back and processing that, but but there was there was some just uncomfortable feelings about it. And i I wore it also to play sports early on.
Speaker: And of course I did play baseball And I remember I had an adaptation for a glove that went on the prosthetic. So I'd use the hook around the bat and I'd hit and and then I'd use the glove, you know pop off the hook and put the glove on and go out and in the field and and use the glove.
Speaker: And at about eight years old or so, I i do have the memory of of and of noticing the other guys on the you know, that we were playing with being faster than me and playing faster and and not having quite the ability to play as fast as they did.
Speaker: And somewhere in that moment, you know, i I started kind of playing with, you know, putting the glove on my left hand, catching the ball, rolling it, throwing it.
Speaker: And it just was a, you know, a trial by, error kind of thing. And I probably started like nine, 10. And I realized i can play a little bit faster this way. And I realized, oh, also like, I can still catch a football with my forearm, or I could, you know, I could, I could play, I could dribble and but and play basketball a little easier without a adaptive device. um And so, so I think that kind of
Speaker: took me away from the prosthetic a little bit because my identity became a little bit more as an athlete. And then that time when I was getting that Mayo, which was like fifth grade and moving into middle school, I think it definitely became a bit more about cosmetics at that age, because I just wanted to fit in. I just wanted to pretend to be normative. I think I i use that word. i use that word now, normative, i because I think it's, you know, I don't think there's actual definition of of a normal um human, but but but but normative and and pretending as though I had the you know that sort of
Speaker: ability to fit in with these other four lemmers you know you wanted to fit in with the people around you yeah like the the other kids yeah school so it so it certainly got more cosmetic at that point and then think toward the end of middle school um i was just finding again a little more success athletically and i felt like i I had pushed, maybe I pushed through a little bit more social emotionally and began to say, you know, to feel like I didn't necessarily, i could begin to have this as as a form of my identity. um but i but i But I never, know, it's funny and I talk about this sometimes when when I do like school, like performances and things, kids will ask me some amazing questions, but but I'll, um
Speaker: they'll ask like, what does it feel like to have one hand or something like that? But, and I will talk about, you know, sort of the the ways that we identify, but I remember never identifying as a one-handed person, always identifying as a left-handed person.
Speaker: As I grew up, it took me, you know, as well into my adult life that I, and I think is when I started to meet other people that I began to have a community, you know, of, oh, wow. Yeah. i'm I'm not all by myself and I can, I can sort of own this sort of,
Speaker: part of my identity to myself. But um sorry, that was a quick little side note. Back to the cosmetics. I think as I got into college, the other thing is I started to decide I was gonna i wanted to be an actor and and I remember thinking, oh, I need to look like I have two hands.
Speaker: you know and need the ability to do that. And so I did get a like a passive hand that was supposed to be the most realistic of of all the hands. This one was the most realistic. and um And it's not. and ah but Yeah, I was going to ask, did to do the trick? Did it like get you where you were hoping to go with your you know your fitting in or that feeling? No,
Speaker: it didn't ah I would say that the the prosthetic did not get me where I wanted because,
Speaker: number one, it didn't really look very realistic. It was also very awkward to to try to move with it. you know And I had an acting professor who said, David, you're not acting. You're just acting like you have two hands you know when I was trying to perform. So so yeah, so it didn't didn didn't take me there.
Speaker: Yeah, it's interesting, too, that you carried with your prosthetics for a long time. I know a lot of people who were born ah with an upper limb difference end up kind of abandoning them earlier um in their in their story. and Was there anything in particular? Was it the was it Was it really that ah that cosmetic desire that kind of like helped you kind of, or like made you want to continue to pursue them and and and look for more tools like that as you grew? i know for me, I got a myoelectric arm um in about 1990, 1991. And probably by 92, I was kind of like, it it was noisy. It was hot. It was like, it felt like the thing loved growing up and playing outside in sports like you, like it felt like it was actually like holding me back. Like you described in with your other tool in a way that I could do more without it than I could with it. Now, I also understand that my parents, it's hard to teach a seven year old that you may benefit from this in your long term for your your musculature and the way that you use your body and your posture and things like that. But um did you have guidance like that that encouraged you to pursue it? Or was that more of a you were allowed to have a personal choice with that?
Speaker: Yeah, it was a purse it was it was definitely a personal choice. I think early on it was encouraged. I think the paradigm when I was born was also from a prosthetist paradigm was we need to replicate two hands in some way to help with balance and to help, you know, and I think that's changed to say, no, the kid's going to, you're going to figure it out. Your brain's going to figure out like how to move and how to do things. And so i So I think early on it was that. it was um
Speaker: so but Potentially it was encouraged by my parents and by by those doctors. But it's interesting to your point. Yeah, I think i did wear... I remember the Mayo just being, again, hot and heavy and and not and not liking it. I remember almost enjoying...
Speaker: using or having it used by other people at school like I I could be like at the cool kids table because they would like oh my gosh dude can we you oh gosh look at this we can play you know and play with his arm you can open to close it and I can chase people around try to pinch them and And so so I almost use it as like a a social networking tool more than a cosmetic thing.
Speaker: And I certainly would say, but, you know, I i know I ah remember going to the Shriners later and it's it in my, I don't, I don't think I still had a Mayo, but I can't, you like i just can't remember anymore.
Speaker: But by... The end of middle school, really wasn't using it. And then certainly, i you know once high school ended, i I didn't get another one until the... Well, got the passive hand in college. And then I think I got weightlifting one maybe 20 years later, something like that.
Speaker: sure but um But no, it is interesting. But I would say even even using those, I would say 90% of the time I wasn't wearing it. You know what i mean? Even if I had it I didn't wear it. I think there's a there was probably a part in middle school when I was like, I was very conscious of the cosmetic part of it.
Speaker: probably You know, in between sixth and eighth grade, maybe a little bit more than any other time in my life. Sure. So yeah um speaking to some of the sports stuff that you were talking about before, did your coaches or parents or, you know, support network, did you get coached into certain positions in the sports that you played because of the the hand that you have with like describing the speed of your glove? Like I played baseball through varsity as well.
Speaker: and could play any position. and then when I got to that kind of like top level, I started playing outfield because even just the speed of the game and the infield and everything like that, um the the coaches thought like like I was a stronger presence in the outfield. um Like, did you have anything like that as you played or did you um or or was that not part of your story?
Speaker: Yeah, no. it Yeah, it was. It was, um i I think also as I got into high school, was kind of moved to the outfield as well. um and And also moved into pitching.
Speaker: And that happened probably in like seventh, you know, eighth grade. And I remember my dad wanted me to to pitch more. And I kept getting, and i remember like an argument, like being mad at him.
Speaker: Like, no, I want to play football. want to play every day. I don't want to play every three days or five days, you know? um But I think he was, his thought was that having that skill, or if you can, if you can pitch, if that's going to allow you probably more opportunity and ah and a little bit more of a way in.
Speaker: So, so yeah, so i it was both my dad and, and then I think, I think I wasn't getting some opportunity to play kind of in a second year of junior varsity.
Speaker: And so there was kind of like an opening at first base and my dad sort of saw it. i remember as this, I think maybe the second glove that was ah ah a gift was a first baseman's mitt or something for Christmas or ah maybe my birthday, but yeah,
Speaker: um But he kind of had that idea too of like, hey, let's make a run at first base, you know, and see if you can get some more playing time. And so we did that. So I did play a little bit more, a little bit of first base, ah kind of platooned a little bit.
Speaker: And I think this this guy beat me out. ah Maybe he hit, eat I don't know if he hit better than me, but but but predominantly I was pitching, you know, through through through high school.
Speaker: Now, your your love of kind of this kind of more this other creative side of your personality, what ah what was the change or did they grow at the same time? Your love of ah you know being on the stage and you know the arts. ah did you When did that kind of come into your life?
Speaker: I think the the enjoyment of it came early. You know, my mom i was was like a choir director at at our church. And so she would do like these musical things. And so I remember really wanting to be like in one of the musicals and then being like a kid,
Speaker: ah you ah being a kid and and being able to like think, there was There was one that it was supposed to be, it was a little kid that was supposed to be in the, and I got to be in the, the the you know, the teen little musical thing. And I was still like elementary school.
Speaker: And I got to lie about how old I was. I'd say like, I'm nine years old. And I was like maybe seven or eight. And I thought it was the coolest thing that I can lie and and do it in church and just feel good about it.
Speaker: um But I, you know, so so I had like that was going on, but but never in my mind was it like, oh, I would do this instead of play sports. um That wasn't really...
Speaker: So I remember liking it and liking doing those things and and being involved in those things, mostly through our church. I didn't really do a lot of community theater per se, but but honestly, and i this is like in my play and and and you know it's it's pretty true. I think there was a ah girl I had a crush on probably like in 10th grade and they were auditioning for this new drama class and it was, you know, just sort of started in our high school and she's like, oh, but you're funny, David, and you would be really, you know, funny is cute, you know, and I thought she might actually go out with me. um But, ah but I literally auditioned, I think, because of that, that, that conversation.
Speaker: And i she never went out with me. But like i um but I did i did you know kind of fall. And then I just sort of like fell in love with theater. I mean, it was the first time I like was doing Shakespeare or some of these other things. And I was like, oh, this is... and you know this was fun. I had an ability to make people laugh or to entertain them in ah in a way. and people would say like, oh, David, you're you're really good at this. So it helped me sort of find a little bit more of a direction um of possibility.
Speaker: Yeah. And so did you have so did you have like a any kind of like crossroads kind of moment or season where did you ever consider doing something besides what you do now? Like, or was it that early kind of enjoyment of the theater and that in that kind of like high school experience that like was like, I think I want to do this with my life? Or did you ever consider, you know, pursuing athletics further or some other passion that you have?
Speaker: Sure, the the the crossroads was, i had gotten a theater scholarship. I had auditioned and blah, blah, blah. I got a scholarship, partial scholarship maybe for for for school.
Speaker: And we get a letter from a baseball coach for a small school. It's like, hey, a buddy mine saw your kid and it was to my dad. My buddy saw your kid play. you know we're We're in need of left-handed pitching and we'd love to have him come out.
Speaker: And my dad was like, this is a letter from God. you know like ah And I had like a day to decide. and i And I chose the theater scholarship versus baseball scholarship.
Speaker: um And i I think, you know, feel like I i was a little bummed out. I mean, I think I think i didn't get...
Speaker: It's hard to know. And again, it's, you know, it's after so many years, you know, but it it just felt like baseball had kind of lost its luster. You know, I don't know if it was that i maybe I didn't get the opportunities I wanted to get, maybe, you know, um you know, but I just sort of lost a little bit of the, that love and maybe, or maybe it was just like, I had a new crush, you know, and the crush was, was this theater thing. And it, and it just seemed like this was more exciting to And, um,
Speaker: So I decided to take that scholarship and um and i don't I don't know if I really knew what the journey was going to entail at that point. um I think i you know i just wanted to
Speaker: i think I just wanted to follow that excitement and that passion that was there. That's fascinating, too. I did not know that about your story. And that is similar to my own. Like I played sports and did did music simultaneously all through school and then was offered a singing scholarship to go to a school. and um And that was sort of like my moment as well, where it was like, I think this is where where I'm headed. um yeah it For me, too, I was like also like this kind of like undercurrent. I didn't know exactly like how what a career in music would
Speaker: would look like like I wanted to be like the bands on TV but like um like how to get there was a little bit unknown to me but like that was the thing that came into my life that scholarship that was like I think this is an avenue to try to get there um so that's what I didn't know that about your story that's that's awesome yeah yeah yeah and it and again it is it's you know but I I don't know I think it is I think it's a certain like you know you know, that that sort of life force or whatever kind of, you know, kind of intuition or or whatever you want to call it, kind of helps you sort of move forward in that.
Speaker: So what what was different as you moved into like studying this as a craft beyond kind of doing it as an extracurricular through school? You know, like what it what was it like to be, you know, aiming toward professionalism in that? And did you start to experience anything like that?
Speaker: were roles picked for you that had to have something to do with your hand? Or like, did you have to do anything cosmetically to be a part of the production? Or did you ignore it completely and just act it, you know, as if it didn't matter or exist at all?
Speaker: I think there was a little bit there was a little bit of both. I think and I went to, you know, this college here in Georgia for a couple years and then transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi.
Speaker: And in both and instances, i had really great professors and also just just these amazing other humans that were students um as well, just really good friends.
Speaker: And I think I would say it it it being I began to feel like I had a tribe or I found a tribe, you know, as much as I love baseball and I love being on teams and things like that, I don't know if I ever felt as as much as that I fit in as I began to feel when I started you know studying theater.
Speaker: um And then it sort of trickling down into studying all these other artists that had come you know before me and all these ways that this expression has existed you know within human civilization. and that it's always been a part of how we express this, our lived experience.
Speaker: That became really fascinating as though I was part of something larger or something that was, there was a part of something that was nothing like anything that I had experienced in, in my town the and, you know, in the life that I had lived to that point.
Speaker: And, um, and And I think we there were there were there were a few roles that you know I would make a choice sometimes to wear my hand. If I was like, i think sometimes I was like playing like multiple characters and you know certain things and I was like, oh, I'll wear my hand as this character, not as this character. But nothing that was really, really talked about until I until i got close to to graduating.
Speaker: And I think that's when it started to really hit me of, oh crap. how am I going to make this? How am I going to make this professionally? Like, or what going to do? What does that mean to be professional? I think I got so locked into being part of the,
Speaker: you know, the culture, you know, and and in defining, beginning to find this identity as an actor um and and performing and learning technique and learning beats and objective and um learning how to use my voice in ways that I had not thought about or finding ease within my body to to to not feel like I had to go ah go at it it completely as an athlete you know sometimes, I think.
Speaker: But I i did get begin to get worried. And I remember I was doing a play called The Heiress in an undergrad.
Speaker: And it's it takes place in like 19th century, you know, and it's about this guy trying to woo this this young woman who's an heiress to a fortune.
Speaker: He's kind of a, you know, a scallywag guy, but you know you know, you don't really know, is he really in it for the money or is he really in love or, you know? And it was, you know, this really formal time in New York. And so you had all these like fancy dinner scenes where the men were wearing white gloves and stuff.
Speaker: And I remember having a conversation with the director and he was great. And he was like, well, what, what would you do as Morris Townsend? you know if more If you were if you were in this in this time and space as Morris Townsend, what would you do? and And we came up with this idea of he would hold a glove you know and he would and and that he could use that to gesture and he could use it in his sort of you know arrogance to to talk about it. but But it became like a thing that we talked and and it was that was such a beautiful moment.
Speaker: for me to to feel seen and to feel that I was able to have some ownership in it. And that was around the same time, you know, it got this passive glove or passive prosthetic and, you know, another teachers teacher was like, David, you you're not acting anymore. You're acting like you have two hands. You gotta, you're like, let me see what's going on on the inside. Let me see, let me see like what this really means and uh instead of trying to create movements that pretend to have two hands you know and um and and then as i graduated i you know i ask i ah you know i i asked and and you know several you know there were you know professors like you know it's
Speaker: it's a challenging profession to anybody, but you have to sort of find your your own sort of niche and find what you want to do. andnna And I was introduced to ah a woman named Kitty Lon, who was an actor with a disability who lived in New York.
Speaker: And I got to go and meet her and we had a great conversation and she was, you know, again, very supportive. And I felt like, okay, well, there's potential other, you know, there are opportunities here ah for me.
Speaker: and um And it also helped me kind of clear clarify, at least at the beginning, here's my goal. This is the what I'm working toward. And did you move straight from that? You did graduate work as well, right, and in acting? Yeah. So did you did you move straight into graduate work, or did you work as an actor somewhere else in the meantime and then pursue graduate work later?
Speaker: Yeah. but It was about almost 10 years later. So I... um So i yeah, my goal, and I kind of was like, i wanna want to be a and i want to get it an internship at an you know an equity theater, you know a union theater, and I want to start what they call equity membership candidate points, which is when you start earning these points as you're working with these professional theaters. And then ultimately you can either get so many points that you are able to join the actors union because of those points, or Ultimately, you know you're working there and you you get a union contract and then you're you're you are put into the union. So that kind of started, this was my journey. And then, i so I worked,
Speaker: in Virginia at a lovely theater called the Barter Theater for a while. And then I moved around a little bit, lived in Columbus, Ohio, and then moved to Atlanta. And lived in Atlanta for about four years.
Speaker: I had some family there, so it was a little easier transition. Just did a lot of theater, sold cell phones, did a bunch of other you know like day jobs. And then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and worked for a theater there.
Speaker: And then after that, then I kind of was like, well, what's next? You know, I'm not quite getting to... the equity goal that I had. I'm not quite getting there yet.
Speaker: Is this really what I want to keep doing? And grad school made sense of the at that point because I was like, oh, it's a terminal degree. i could I could ultimately teach at a university level if I wanted to teach and do some other things, but I feel like also want to get a little better at what I'm doing.
Speaker: And that led me to the to grad school. And then in grad school, I was like, I need to make a run, you know I need to to to go to New York and and see if you know this is the right place. And they they sort of had like this sort of presence there in New York. There was a lot of graduates who were who were there at the time.
Speaker: My brothers had both moved there. So it was a time that just made sense um that this this was a time to kind of so go and see like what what else can I do professionally.
Speaker: So what what part of the city did you move to and why? ah First, I moved into i moved to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn with my brother and his girlfriend. um They had an extra room, and that was just because it was ah easy place to transition to.
Speaker: And then they ended up moving to Astoria, Queens. And I didn't know anything really about Astoria, but it seemed like a good place. And I had another friend who was looking for a roommate who happened to be in Astoria. So I was like, well, my brother's moving there. That sounds like a good, as as good a place as anything. So then we moved to Astoria.
Speaker: And then, yeah, it was, and then... My wife now, she and her sister both moved to New York, and so they ended up moving in, um and we were in Astoria for a long time, so until we left.
Speaker: So pretty much just stayed in Astoria. professionally there, like were you pursuing stage and screen, or exclusively stage? and then like Talk us through how that worked, like the transition to doing both in your life.
Speaker: Yeah, I think... I think there was a desire to try to do um some screen stuff. I remember even in North Carolina, the first agent I went to see had said like, you're only going to get cast in roles specifically for somebody with one hand. So why even do this, you know, or something like that.
Speaker: is great. um And so I wanted to kind of prove her wrong. And and um so that was sort of, ah again, i think that also kind of intensified the drive probably for grad school too, was was that after that conversation, but, but it started like I did, think when I first went to New York, and there was like a like a you know like a acting intensive at one of the sort of good um you know like studios that are that are there. and they They mostly are doing they're doing you know some stage stuff, but also they're doing a lot of TV and commercial work.
Speaker: And so it was like this two-week and intensive or something, we're and we're working through a lot of that. And then you get to... like at the end of every, maybe it was three, can't remember. But but you you got to like audition for casting directors and some other stuff. And i I remember, and they would give you notes.
Speaker: And I remember getting notes like, oh, great work. Not sure how the hand's gonna work or something like, you know, and I was like, this really just stinks. and and And so I, and then I found my way into couple of theater productions.
Speaker: And then it was, I mean, honestly, the first year was also just about survival, I think. It's like finding your your legs a little, you know, getting a job and making sure could pay rent, you know.
Speaker: there's a little bit of that. And then i found my way into an organization that was called Inclusion of the Arts. And they advocated for diversity, inclusion in theater, film, and television.
Speaker: and i And I just asked if I could volunteer and answer phones for them or something. So I started doing that for like couple of weeks. And then they were like, we should find ah something for you to do. We can bring you on you know for 10 hours or eight hours a week or something.
Speaker: And so i started doing that and working restaurant. And then I got to, you started meeting more people. and And by meeting more people, I got to audition. and um And so I did a you know handful of things that sort of started that way.
Speaker: And then, so for the most part, I was doing stuff, I was doing theater stuff. And then i I finally was cast in an off-Broadway play, which is the first equity contract I got. So so then, you know,
Speaker: finally got you know the equity contract and then honestly, oh I got, and then i the law and order kind of came in because of they needed a one-armed guy.
Speaker: you know They were looking for one-armed guy and because of inclusion in arts and other stuff, they got my information and you know I got in and auditioned and was a really quick process. And then that was the SAG-AFTRA card.
Speaker: you know And so you know it sort of happened very quickly in that way, and then and then it was just a matter of just meeting people and and auditioning.
Speaker: you know yeah so so it wasn't I don't think I had a focus of one or the other necessarily, yeah but both you know both kind of began to happen at around the same time.
Speaker: Is that organization that you work with still working today? No, um it died before I left. It it was and in 2017, 2018.
Speaker: um We started to, it was it was really sad because we we were doing really good stuff and our executive the executive director had to leave and the board just felt like,
Speaker: Oh, you know, it was really kind of driven by them and and it was, you know, or driven by the executive director and wasn't really sure, you know, if we really were needed as much.
Speaker: But there wasn't anyone doing anything within the disability space like we were in terms of disability and arts. And they brought in another sort of temporary executive director to kind of help sort of like close down operations. And her point was like, nobody's, nobody's doing this. So why are we, why are we trying to close it down? You know?
Speaker: But then that it just was, we just, it was like, felt like it was a year of like being in a ambulance and, you know, like trying to revive, you know, somebody. It just, it was that kind of like intensity.
Speaker: was like, oh, we're, you know, we're closing, oh wait, no, we're maybe we're not, maybe we're maybe we're gonna make it back, maybe we're not. And it was a kind of an up and down time. um But there are, i mean, and there are other groups that are doing or trying to pick up some of that work, but I think what we were doing was was was pretty good.
Speaker: yeah and i And I think it helped. And i think I think that really was a driver of some of the things that we're seeing now in terms of representation, especially disability. were Were those other new groups that have formed, are they specific to New York City or are they kind of popping up all over the place?
Speaker: I think it's mostly, that there's not necessarily that i know of right now, like a ah real advocacy organization working. i mean, there's, there's, there's still a little bit of what's called media access, I think in Los Angeles. And there's,
Speaker: But now the Queens Theater has Theater for All ah initiative. And and ah so they're doing some of that work, which is in New York.
Speaker: You've got several theater companies. You've got like Family Theater in Denver, Colorado. You've got... Mixed Blood in Minneapolis, I think that's still doing some work in terms of ah working or including ah actors disabilities and and giving space for actual disabilities to work.
Speaker: Public theater has done a good bit in New York too. and but But it's also kind of like, I feel like i'm i've I've just gone out of that hole.
Speaker: kind of realm okay and I think covid I mean I think COVID did that I mean I think like you know it just it kind of upended everything you know and I i feel like like yeah like now I'm like I don't even really know what's going on anymore yeah sure sure i You know, i would something that you said before, I was just curious about, because you said that SVU needed a one-handed guy to come on the show and and do his thing. Do you feel like having um having the hand that you have is something that has been...
Speaker: been a a force of like good in your acting career? Has it been more of a force of a struggle? Like the other thing you said about like, and not sure what we're going to do with the hand. there or is it like just a constant tension of depending on the project, depending on the director, depending on the, you know, the circumstance, it's it could be one or the other, depending on the time.
Speaker: I think it's it's it's it's probably, I would say, i think the things I've gotten to do for the most part come from firm habit for my limb difference, right? um I think some of the opportunities I've gotten have become are certainly because of that.
Speaker: um A lot of the larger kind of television shows, things like that, have have been that's been a part of it. I also feel like um my limb differences, kind of you know it gave me the story.
Speaker: And one thing I guess I haven't really talked about is you know I really made my living in New York writing these solo plays. And then I produced those solo plays and and then i would you know I would tour those around.
Speaker: and so so So I was i was i was acting, and I was performing, but that's how I was kind of paying the rent ultimately. So it wasn't like I was jumping from off-Broadway show to television show or things like that. Those were little things that were happening periodically.
Speaker: But then there was, you know, the sort of consistency was was the story that I was telling. And that was kind of coming from an autobiographical sense. So in and a lot of ways, of hand the hand, the limb difference kind of buoyed me or propelled me in my career.
Speaker: And and and and it's um so and in in in a way that I'm not upset about, it in a way, because I you know i ah tell kids all the time, you know i can't tell you why this happened. like Even scientifically, i mean the is it amniotic band syndrome? I don't know if it's exactly that.
Speaker: I don't know if there's exactly a word for it, but I can tell you what I believe, why this happens, because it brought me to you to- today, tell you the story to remind you guys that all the differences in you make you completely beautiful and unique.
Speaker: And that's the story that I'm getting to tell because of this experience. Yeah. So, so I, so I think it's certainly been a, been a benefit, you know, I would love,
Speaker: to just be able to be the guy who sells you know cheese to to Ryan Gosling in a movie you know at Whole Foods. you know i mean, it's just just but just like there's one-handed guys like, do you want the provolone?
Speaker: you know And it's just like a short little scene, but you just see ah you know a one-handed guy doing a job and working and making a living. Cheese Cheese one. yeah don't even need name I don't even need a name. um But those are the kind of, you know, those are roles that i I wish had come more.
Speaker: And I hope they do come maybe for those who are coming behind me, you know, um, you know, there's there's there's several kids. And, you know, there's the the young woman from the UK who's on Downton Abbey.
Speaker: i know if you've seen that. Not Downton Abbey, Bridgerton. um You know, who's who's, you know, one of the servants, you know, and just, and I think that's great. It's a servant with with limb difference in the early 20th century or or wherever Bridgerton takes place. um but But I think that's important. We're just seeing,
Speaker: not just limb difference, but any you know disability represented um as human beings, as human beings working and and and and and living their lives. Because I think that's an important that that story is important to me.
Speaker: i think it's I think it's really cool too. like um I'm glad that you segued the way that you did because I was going to do the exact same thing. um of something that I encourage students about a lot myself is like if you don't see yourself in the, but you know, in a role somewhere that, you know, you can also write for yourself. You can create your own productions. And that is not even specific to people with like a physical difference or disability. Like one of the most famous stories is like a Sylvester Stallone who like wasn't getting the roles that he had hoped for and then wrote Rocky for himself, you know, and that's one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, Oscar winning, you know?
Speaker: Um, so like, um, because, you know, people didn't understand his voice or his style and just like, you know, um but okay, well I'll write something that is that voice and style. So, you know,
Speaker: um Tell us a little bit more about your writing and how that evolved over time. And is that something that you were good at in school and then like brought with you, you know, to to Broadway eventually? Or is that, you know, something you had to develop over time?
Speaker: I think it's it's certainly developed. i don't I don't think I was a good writer. I remember being young and wanting to write something. I think I wanted to write a song. And I remember sitting down and trying to write a song and being like,
Speaker: Let's go play. um I don't know what to do. you know my My mind just exploded. But I was encouraged by by by a guy I was ah working with ah at a theater.
Speaker: And it you know I would tell stories about my life growing up and you know these personifications of the characters in my life, my my parents and other people. And he thought it was you thought it was very funny and and said, like you should you should create a ah play about this, do a solo play. And so that was the impetus of it. And and and you know ultimately, there were opportunities. And and fortunately, people that cant kind of came in my life and helped work on those and develop those. And it kind of constantly developed and developed developed.
Speaker: And so the writing was was certainly a process and and not an easy one for me to to really get. um And then i think, so so writing a play, I call it A Little Potato and Hard to Peel.
Speaker: And then I wrote one for kind of younger kids because i really started to find an audience with... some schools into different community groups, but like it didn't really work for young kids. So I created one called the boy who would be Captain Hook, um which is about wearing a prosthetic book on a playground being called Captain Hook. And that's the only thing you're seen as.
Speaker: And, you know, you can make the decision to not be defined by that, but, but who do you, Who do you have to change? You don't, you you don't, you have to sort of change yourself, but you also have to, you know, begin to change others. And how can you you begin to accept the different, all the differences in you.
Speaker: and And when that happens first, then you potentially get to see the differences in others. or thoughtful way, hopefully. And so that those two sort of plays were were were kind of done. and And then in the last year, I adapted a Little Potato Heart to Peel and into like a mid-grade novel.
Speaker: Yeah, that's great. and So yeah, tell us about about the book. Yeah, the the book is, it's it's the play, but but I really try to condense it the play kind of starts with me in the present moment and kind of taking you back in the past, kind of giving you this story and then kind of coming back into the present moment with you.
Speaker: And I felt like that was a lot to try to put in the book. So I really worked to sort of rewrite the story to kind of follow my 11-year-old self, you know, as as I'm kind of going in and making that transition from elementary to middle school and and figuring out like,
Speaker: beginnings of of what my differences are, you know um and really trying to you know begin to ask those questions, also ask questions about differences in others, and start to to see that I'm not completely all by myself, um but but how those are universal to hopefully a lot of folks that go through that experience. And so was kind of like a mid-grade novel yeah was the goal.
Speaker: If people want to get that book, is it best if they go through your website or Amazon? What's the one that way that helps you the best? Helping me the best go through go through the website and go through the publisher um is probably the best bet.
Speaker: But you know you still find it at Barnes & Noble. You can find it at Amazon as well. but But if you go to website, ah hopefully those will be in the show notes. Yeah, man. yeah ah Then you can that certainly helps it helps you out the best, which is, you know, which is a ah s stinker for us artists. It's like, you know, they should all help.
Speaker: And i can't believe at this time just flew today just talking to you. I've really enjoyed this. But ah where do you want people to to look you up? your Your website, your socials. Just tell us about where people can find more about you.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, David Harrell online is the website. You can you can find out more there. And then you can find me on Instagram, David Harrell three, the number three. And I think I'm still on Facebook.
Speaker: ah You probably just search that by me. Awesome. David, thank you so much for your time today, man. It's been great to hear your story. Thank you for for sharing it with the AblePod. Well, thank you, Tony. it's It's just awesome to talk to you. And we should probably talk again some other time since now we're learning more things about each other. yeah Go throw the baseball around. Oh, that'd be fun, man.
Speaker: I would love that. Heck yeah, man. Awesome. Well, great talking to you. Thank you so much. Good talking to you too, man. Thank you for your time. Have a good one. You too.
Speaker: ABLE Voices is a production of the Berkeley Institute for Accessible Arts Education, led by me, Dr. Rhoda Bernard, the founding managing director. It is produced by Daniel Martinez del Campo.
Speaker: The intro music is by Kai Levin, and our closing song is by Sebastian Batista. Kai and Sebastian are students in the arts education programs at the Berkeley Institute for Accessible Arts Education.
Speaker: If you would like to learn more about our work, find us online at berkeley.edu slash B-I-A-A-E or email us at B-I-A-A-E at berkeley, that's L-E-E dot E-D-U.
