Ali Stroker
{{short description|American actress and singer (born 1987)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ali Stroker
| image = Ali stroker 2021 1.jpg
| caption = Stroker at the 74th Tony Awards in 2021
| birth_name = Alyson Mackenzie Stroker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|6|16|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
| education = New York University (BFA)
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}
| spouse = David Perlow
| children = 1
| years_active = 2011–present
| website = {{url|alistroker.com}}
}}
Alyson Mackenzie Stroker{{cite web |last=Dzurillay |first=Julia |title=Tony Awards: Was Ali Stroker on 'Glee'? |url=https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tony-awards-ali-stroker-on-glee.html/ |website=Showbiz CheatSheet |date=June 11, 2019 |access-date=October 13, 2020 |archive-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309211911/https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tony-awards-ali-stroker-on-glee.html/ |url-status=dead }} (born June 16, 1987) is an American actress, author and singer. She is the first actor who uses a wheelchair to appear on a Broadway stage, and also the first to be nominated for and win a Tony Award. Stroker was a finalist on the second season of The Glee Project and later appeared as a guest star on Glee in 2013. She played Anna in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 revival of Spring Awakening,{{cite web|last=Gambino|first=Joe|date=November 22, 2015|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/this-is-how-i-roll-literally-ali-stroker-on-auditioning-the-same-way-she-dates-and-making-broadway-history-372809|title='This is How I Roll… Literally' — Ali Stroker On Auditioning the Same Way She Dates and Making Broadway History|website=Playbill|access-date=2017-08-08}} and won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Oklahoma!{{Cite web|last=Clement|first=Olivia|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/rebecca-naomi-jones-and-ali-stroker-to-star-in-oklahoma-at-st-anns-off-broadway|title=Rebecca Naomi Jones and Ali Stroker to Star in Oklahoma! at St. Ann's Off-Broadway|date=2018-07-25|website=Playbill|access-date=2018-12-11|archive-date=2018-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215174215/http://www.playbill.com/article/rebecca-naomi-jones-and-ali-stroker-to-star-in-oklahoma-at-st-anns-off-broadway|url-status=live}}
Early life
Ali Stroker grew up in New Jersey with her parents, Jody and Jim Stroker, as well as an older brother, Jake. At the age of two, Stroker and her brother were in a car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury that left Ali paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to walk, she uses a wheelchair.{{Cite news|last=Federico-O'Murchu|first=Linda|url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/ridgewood/the-courage-to-be-different-ridgewoods-ali-stroker-a-d8931f509e|title=The Courage to be Different: Ali Stroker a Burgeoning Star|date=2011-03-27|work=Ridgewood-Glen Rock, NJ Patch|access-date=2017-08-08|archive-date=2017-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808112859/https://patch.com/new-jersey/ridgewood/the-courage-to-be-different-ridgewoods-ali-stroker-a-d8931f509e|url-status=live}} She attended Ridgewood High School, where she was senior class president and starred in school musicals.{{cite web |last=Herzog |first=Laura |title=Actress who uses a wheelchair a likely first for Broadway |url=https://www.nj.com/bergen/2015/09/actress_from_nj_may_be_broadways_1st_using_a_wheel.html |website=NJ.com |date=September 11, 2015 |quote=Stroker, who was president of Ridgewood High School president during her senior year, also starred in several high school productions including as Maria in West Side Story, and Cosette in Les Miz. |access-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309211911/https://www.nj.com/bergen/2015/09/actress_from_nj_may_be_broadways_1st_using_a_wheel.html |url-status=live }}
Stroker trained with the Summer Musical Theater Conservatory program at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.
In 2007, Ali performed in "Mrs. Sharp" by Ryan Scott Oliver at N.Y.U. under the direction of Ryan Mekenian with Alex Brightman & Scott Evans also in the cast. In 2009, Stroker became the first actor who uses a wheelchair to earn a degree from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, with a degree in Fine Arts.{{Cite web|url=https://parade.com/480945/jerylbrunner/ali-stroker-makes-history-as-the-first-performer-in-a-wheelchair-in-a-broadway-show/|title=Ali Stroker Makes History as the First Performer in a Wheelchair in a Broadway Show|last=Brunner|first=Jeryl|work=Parade|date=May 31, 2016|access-date=2017-08-08|archive-date=2022-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309211912/https://parade.com/480945/jerylbrunner/ali-stroker-makes-history-as-the-first-performer-in-a-wheelchair-in-a-broadway-show/|url-status=live}}
Career
Stroker has given solo performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and New York's Town Hall in addition to concert performances at Lincoln Center in New York City.{{Cite news|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Ali-Stroker-to-Burn-Old-Dresses-in-Concert-at-The-Green-Room-42-20170823|title=Ali Stroker to 'Burn Old Dresses' in Concert at The Green Room 42|work=BroadwayWorld|access-date=2017-09-01|archive-date=2017-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902010113/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Ali-Stroker-to-Burn-Old-Dresses-in-Concert-at-The-Green-Room-42-20170823|url-status=live}}
Stroker starred in the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She later reprised her role in this show at Philadelphia Theatre Company, and that performance earned her a Barrymore Award nomination.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/nyregion/30artsnj.html|title='Putnam County Spelling Bee' at Paper Mill - Review|last=Gates|first=Anita|date=2011-01-28|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-09-01|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2017-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902003522/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/nyregion/30artsnj.html|url-status=live}}
In 2012, she auditioned for The Glee Project and was cast for the 12-episode series. She made it to the final episode and placed second, earning a guest role on Glee, playing Betty Pillsbury, Ms. Pillsbury's niece, in Season 4, Episode 14: "I Do".
In 2014, she had a role in the film Cotton, also known as "Everyday Miracles".
In 2014 and 2015, Stroker had a three-episode role playing Wendy in the MTV series Faking It.
In 2015, she made history by becoming the first actor who uses a wheelchair to appear on a Broadway stage. She originated the role of Anna in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 revival of Spring Awakening.{{cite news | last=Dziemianowicz | first=Joe | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/ali-stroker-broadway-history-spring-awakening-article-1.2361740 | work=New York Daily News | title='Spring Awakening' actress Ali Stroker makes history as first actor in a wheelchair on Broadway | date=September 15, 2015 | access-date=December 18, 2015 | archive-date=December 22, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222101521/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/ali-stroker-broadway-history-spring-awakening-article-1.2361740 | url-status=live }}
In 2017, Stroker was cast as Tamara in the ABC show Ten Days in the Valley.{{Cite news|last=Hubbard|first=Daniel|url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/wyckoff/bergens-ali-stroker-cast-abcs-ten-days-valley|title=Bergen's Ali Stroker Cast In ABC's 'Ten Days In The Valley'|date=2017-02-02|work=Wyckoff, NJ Patch|access-date=2017-09-01}} The series was cancelled after 1 season due to low ratings.
In 2018, she played Ado Annie in St. Ann's Warehouse's critically acclaimed revival of Oklahoma! The production transferred to Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre in 2019, earning Stroker a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, making her the first person with a disability to be nominated for and to receive that award.{{cite web |last=Fierberg |first=Ruthie |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/ali-stroker-talks-making-broadway-history-with-her-2019-tony-nomination |title=Ali Stroker Talks Making Broadway History With Her 2019 Tony Nomination |website=Playbill |date=2019-05-02 |access-date=2019-05-06 |archive-date=2019-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505045221/http://www.playbill.com/article/ali-stroker-talks-making-broadway-history-with-her-2019-tony-nomination |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Darrah |first=Nicole |date=June 10, 2019 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/ali-stroker-makes-history-wheelchair-tony-award.amp |title=Tony Award winner Ali Stroker makes history as first wheelchair user to win trophy |website=Fox News |access-date=2019-06-10 |archive-date=2020-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219223554/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/ali-stroker-makes-history-wheelchair-tony-award.amp |url-status=live }}
In 2020, she was in Lifetime's Christmas Ever After, airing on December 6, 2020.
In 2021, she played Detective Allison Mulaney on the police procedural television series Blue Bloods,{{cite news | last=Hoog | first=Tyler | date=January 14, 2021 | title=Ali Stroker Gives Life to a Nuanced Story of the Disability Experience in CBS' Blue Bloods | publisher=RespectAbility | url=https://www.respectability.org/2021/01/ali-stroker-blue-bloods/ | access-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005051344/https://www.respectability.org/2021/01/ali-stroker-blue-bloods/ | url-status=live }} and played Paulette on the mystery-comedy television series Only Murders in the Building.{{cite web | title=About Ali Stroker | website=AliStroker.com | url=https://www.alistroker.com/about | access-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005050928/https://www.alistroker.com/about | url-status=live }}
In 2024, she sang the American national anthem during the 2024 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony in Paris.
Advocacy
Stroker co-chaired an awards luncheon in 2016 for Women Who Care, which supports United Cerebral Palsy of New York City.{{cite web | last=Nugent | first=Paul | date=January 25, 2016 | title=15th Annual Women Who Care Awards | website=AdaptCommunityNetwork.org | url=https://www.adaptcommunitynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/UCP-of-NYC-15th-Annual-Women-Who-Care-Co-Host-Announcement.pdf | access-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-date=October 5, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005053019/https://www.adaptcommunitynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/UCP-of-NYC-15th-Annual-Women-Who-Care-Co-Host-Announcement.pdf | url-status=live }} She is a founding member of Be More Heroic, an anti-bullying campaign which tours the country connecting with thousands of students each year.{{cite web | title=Our Team - BMH | website=BeMoreHeroic.org | url=https://www.bemoreheroic.org/copy-of-catalogue | access-date=October 5, 2021 }} She has gone to South Africa with ARTS InsideOut where she has held theater classes and workshops for women and children affected by AIDS.
Personal life
Stroker is bisexual{{Cite news|last=Barksdale|first=Aaron|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/history-making-broadway-star-opens-up-about-being-bisexual_us_56265f36e4b0bce3470242cc|title=History-Making Broadway Star Opens Up About Being Bisexual|date=2015-10-20|work=HuffPost Canada|access-date=2017-08-08|archive-date=2017-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808073759/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/history-making-broadway-star-opens-up-about-being-bisexual_us_56265f36e4b0bce3470242cc|url-status=live}} and dated fellow The Glee Project contestant Dani Shay from 2012 to 2015.{{Cite news|last=Votta|first=Rae|date=December 14, 2012|url=http://www.newnownext.com/ali-stroker-dani-shay-dating-the-glee-project/12/2012/|title=Ali Stroker Talks Partner Dani Shay, 'Glee Project': Exclusive Interview|work=LOGO News|access-date=2017-08-08}}
Stroker attended the 2019 Tony Awards with her then-boyfriend (now husband), theater director and actor David Perlow.{{Cite web|last=Telling|first=Gillian|url=https://people.com/theater/ali-stroker-paralyzed-now-shes-a-tony-winning-broadway-sensation/|title=A Car Accident at Age 2 Left Ali Stroker Paralyzed — Now She's a Tony-Winning Broadway Sensation|date=2019-07-11|website=PEOPLE.com|access-date=2019-08-05|archive-date=2019-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723005155/https://people.com/theater/ali-stroker-paralyzed-now-shes-a-tony-winning-broadway-sensation/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Vacco-Bolanos|first=Jessica|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/tony-awards-2019-glee-alum-oklahoma-star-ali-stroker-wins-makes-history/|title='Glee' Alum Ali Stroker Makes History at 2019 Tony Awards, 'Oklahoma!' Star Is First Actor in a Wheelchair to Win|date=2019-06-10|website=Us Weekly|access-date=2019-08-05|archive-date=2019-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805205025/https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/tony-awards-2019-glee-alum-oklahoma-star-ali-stroker-wins-makes-history/|url-status=live}} She and Perlow reconnected in 2015{{cite web |last=Telling |first=Gillian |title=An Accident as a Toddler Left Her Paralyzed, but the Broadway Star Didn't Let It Get in the Way of Achieving Her Dreams |url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/people-usa/20190722/281535112559439 |website=People |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806053844/https://www.pressreader.com/usa/people-usa/20190722/281535112559439 |archive-date=August 6, 2019 |date=June 22, 2019 |url-status=dead |via=Press Reader}} and are founding directors of ATTENTIONTheatre.{{Cite web|url=https://www.attentiontheatre.com/founders|title=Team {{!}} New York|website=attentiontheatre|access-date=2019-08-05|archive-date=2019-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805205027/https://www.attentiontheatre.com/founders|url-status=dead}}
Credits
= Film and television =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes |
|---|
| 2011
|I Was a Mermaid and Now I'm a Pop Star |Party Girl |Video short |
| 2012
|Herself |12 episodes |
| 2013
|Glee |Betty Pillsbury |Episode: "I Do" |
| 2014
|Cotton |Jeanie | |
| 2014–2015
|Wendy |3 episodes |
| 2017
|Tamara |3 episodes |
| 2018
|Nina |Episode: "Funny Money" |
| 2018
|Episode: "Civil Rights" |
| 2018
|Ella |Episode: "Secrets and Lies" |
| 2019
|First Auditionee |Episode: "Witch Perfect" |
| 2020
|(voice) |Episode: "Angela" |
| 2020
|Basketball Brianna |Episode: "Basketball Brianna/Heart's Fish" |
| 2020
|Olivia |Episode: "Leveling Up" |
| 2020
|Christmas Ever After{{Cite web|url=https://www.mylifetime.com/movies/christmas-ever-after|title=Christmas Ever After|website=Lifetime|accessdate=May 13, 2021}} |Izzi Simmons |Television film |
| 2021
|Det. Allison Mulaney |Episode: "Redemption" |
| 2021–2022
|Paulette |4 episodes |
| 2021–2023
|Chloe |2 episodes |
| 2022
|Charles-Ann |7 episodes |
| 2022
|Claudia |7 episodes |
| 2022–2023
|Sunday (voice) |2 episodes |
| 2022
|Herself |Television film |
| 2022
|Guest Singer |Episode: "How to Bury a Millionaire" |
| 2022–2024
|Daisy (voice) |4 episodes |
| 2022–2023
|Amy / Random Girl (voice) |6 episodes |
| 2023
|Gliderbella (voice) |Episode: "All That Jazzy/Iguana Hold Your Hand" |
| 2023
|Episode: "Richard III" |
| 2024
|Lacey/Rita/Leslie (voice) |Episode: "Dancing Rules" |
| 2024
|Rya (voice) |Episode: "Cedric & the Thief" |
| TBA
| |Filming |
= Theatre =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Role !Location !Notes |
|---|
| 2011
|The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee |Olive Ostrovsky |Regional Theatre |
| 2015
|rowspan="2" |Spring Awakening |rowspan="2" |Anna |Regional Theatre – Deaf West Theatre |
| 2015–2016
|Broadway – Deaf West Theatre Transfer |
| rowspan=3|2018
|The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee |Olive Ostrovsky |Regional Theatre |
| Annie
|Star-to-Be |Regional Theatre |
| rowspan="2" |Oklahoma!
|rowspan="2" |Ado Annie Carnes |Off-Broadway |
| 2019–2020
|Broadway |
| 2022
|Off-Broadway |
| 2024
|Storyteller #4 |Regional Theatrehttps://www.shakespearetheatre.org/events/babbitt-24-25 |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Award !Category !Work !Result !Ref. |
| style="text-align: center;" |2016
|Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show |{{nom}} | |
| rowspan="4" style="text-align: center;" |2019
|Best Featured Actress in a Musical | rowspan="5" |Oklahoma! |{{won}} | |
| Drama Desk Award
|Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical |{{won}} | |
| Drama League Award
|{{nom}} | |
| Outer Critics Circle Award
|Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical |{{nom}} | |
| style="text-align: center;" |2020
|{{nom}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|4706602}}
- {{IBDB name|502209}}
- {{Playbill person|ali-stroker-vault-0000126631}}
- {{Official website|https://www.alistroker.com/}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Ali Stroker
|list =
{{DramaDesk MusicalFeaturedActress}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActress}}
}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroker, Ali}}
Category:21st-century American women singers
Category:Actors with disabilities
Category:Actresses from Ridgewood, New Jersey
Category:American actors with disabilities
Category:American bisexual actresses
Category:American bisexual musicians
Category:American LGBTQ singers
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American wheelchair users
Category:Bisexual women musicians
Category:LGBTQ people from New Jersey
Category:Musicians from Ridgewood, New Jersey
Category:People with paraplegia
Category:Ridgewood High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:Singers from New Jersey