Young star finds stage different than big screen

By Travina Coleman
Phoenix Staff Writer

February 09, 2008 11:26 pm

— Dark brown, bouncy curls frame her glowing face. Her 1,000-watt smile illustrates her temperament.
Ashley Biggs, 17, a sophomore, is the newest star at Muskogee Little Theatre.
Biggs stars as Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker,” William Gibson’s dramatization of the story of Keller, which is set to open at 8 p.m. Friday.
Not all of Biggs’ performance is an act. Like Keller, Biggs is blind.
Chattering endlessly like most teens, Biggs giggled and grinned at rehearsal as her mother, Christy Biggs, told her to sit up straight. Although she’s new to the stage, she is not new to audiences.
Ashley Biggs also had a small role in a 2004 movie, “Convicted” with Aidan Quinn, Tim Daly and Kelley Preston.
“This is a lot different than shooting all kinds of takes,” Biggs said. “It’s sink or swim in theater.”
Blind since birth, Biggs’ optic nerve doesn’t work. Doctors told her parents not to get their hopes up that she would likely never walk or talk, much less see, due to other undeveloped parts of the brain.
“She does it all,” Christy Biggs said. “She is our own miracle.”
Ashley Biggs attends Oklahoma School for the Blind and like all other teens, her schedule is demanding.
She plays the saxophone, guitar, takes Spanish and is involved with her school band. She also travels for mission trips with her youth group and battles for attention with her younger sister’s dog, very “person-like” “Scruffy” the Shih Tzu.
“We don’t like each other,” Biggs said. “It will slither in between me and my dad as we sit on the couch, and all it does is lick anyway.”
She attributes her musical ability to her parents who she said also play instruments.
“Mom plays the steering wheel, and dad plays the remote,” she said, and giggled.
Biggs said she normally won’t get involved with any project that keeps her up past bedtime.
“I’m really in touch with my sleep,” Biggs said.
But by being in “The Miracle Worker,” Biggs’ schedule doesn’t get her home until 10 p.m.
“It’s worth it,” she said. “I love doing this. It’s fun and messy, but very hands on.”
According to Biggs, hands on means she has to get her cues physically, so it has taken some time to get used to.
“Everyone is great to work with,” she said. “And it can be hard, but I think if I were to quit, I may be passing up this opportunity.”
Biggs said she doesn’t like the word “can’t.”
“It’s the word can, but with an apostrophe and a T — but that’s it,” she said. “I don’t see as well as you guys do, but I know that if you set your mind to it, no matter how hard, just do it.”
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