Ableism in musical theatre has sadly been going on for a long time. But the worst part is, it hasn’t shown signs of stopping. Ricky Potts, a disabled character with a degenerative disease, has had his disability completely erased from his character.

You may have heard of the situation with Yannick Mirko. They played Ricky Potts in Ride the Cyclone for one run of the McCarter Theatre production, but they were later fired because of a medical emergency. While they were in the McCarter production, they were constantly treated badly. After being fired, their able-bodied understudy played the following 3 runs in the production. This is completely unfair to Yannick. The Ride The Cyclone fandom has been trying to help, using the hashtag #SAVERICKYPOTTS. A petition before mine has been signed over 1,000 times. But this is not all the theaters have done.

The script for one of the productions was altered, completely removing Ricky’s disability. This was only for a certain production at the time, in Bluebridge theatre, but that script was then changed to be for all future productions. The company that distributes the licensing and play rights does not allow the script to be altered without permission from said company. This means if Ricky’s disability was added back without permission, whoever changed it can get in serious legal trouble. This has completely erased the representation of his character.

I am urging you to sign this petition and use hashtag #SAVERICKYPOTTS.