MAY 31, 2016 – 9:14 AM
Ali Stroker says that her life took a radical turn the summer she was 7. Her next-door neighbor decided to direct a backyard production of Annie and cast Stroker as Annie. “It was a really special summer. I remember my life beginning,” says Stroker. From the time she was 2, a car accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. “I felt like my identity was around my wheelchair for so long” she says. “Once I started performing I was someone else. I could be an actress and singer and not just a girl in a wheelchair.”
From that Annie production, Stroker was hooked. Playing different roles, becoming a variety of people was healing. Performing bolstered her confidence. “It served different purposes not only in my career, but also helped me become the person that I am today,” she says. She also took voice lessons finding singing to be totally liberating. “Being paralyzed my body doesn’t necessarily always do what I want it to do,” Stroker explains. “But with my voice there are no limitations. It’s not held back by anything.”
