Groundbreaking performer Ali Stroker made history as the first actress in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway when she originated the role of ‘Anna’ in Deaf West’s acclaimed 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. In 2019, Stroker received a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role for her captivating performance as ‘Ado Annie’ in the revival of “Oklahoma!” After graduating from Tisch, Stroker starred on 12 episodes of the talent competition, The Glee Project. She placed second and won a guest role on Fox’s Glee. She then recurred in the Kyra Sedgwick ABC series, Ten Days in the Valley. She also guest starred on Fox’s Lethal Weapon and CBS’ Instinct. Stroker earned a Barrymore Award nomination for starring as Olive Ostrovsky in The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In addition to her work on and off-Broadway, she’s soloed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, New York’s Town Hall, and Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. She’s also the first actress in a wheelchair to graduate from the NYU Tisch drama program. A humanitarian and advocate, Stroker has been a co-chair of Women Who Care, which supports United Cerebral Palsy of New York City. She’s a founding member of Be More Heroic, an anti-bullying campaign which toured the country connecting with thousands of students each year. Her devotion to educating and inspiring others brought Stroker to South Africa with ARTS InsideOut, where she held theater workshops and classes for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Stroker’s exceptional ability to improve the lives of others through the arts, disabled or not, is captured in her motto: “Turning Your Limitations Into Your Opportunities.”
