Rock ‘n’ roll lovers on a musical mecca all through the South are possible, throughout their travels, to make a cease on the famed recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
But simply a few miles away in the close by metropolis of Tuscumbia lies one other legendary locale — attracting its personal enthusiastic guests. (See the video on the high of this piece, plus one other video inside this text.)
Not removed from the Tennessee River sits Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller. The American lady overcame her incapability to see or hear at an early age and emerged an acclaimed writer and advocate for incapacity rights.
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It’s additionally the setting of William Gibson’s “The Miracle Worker” stage play, based mostly on Keller’s 1903 autobiography “The Story of My Life.”
Not solely is Ivy Green the central location for Gibson’s Tony Award-winning play, however every summer time the grounds grow to be the centerpiece of the story of Keller’s early residence struggles. Teacher Annie Sullivan, as Keller as soon as wrote of their relationship, “gave me love and opened my mind and helped me acquire knowledge and greatness of life.”
Helen Keller, left, in 1893 at age 13, is pictured with Annie Sullivan, who traveled from Boston to show the younger scholar. (Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images)
Sullivan, partially blinded herself at age 5, had traveled from Boston to Alabama in 1887 to show Keller.
The performances of “The Miracle Worker” over the past weekend of June coincide with the annual Helen Keller Festival, which Colbert County, Alabama, tourism president Susann Hamlin described to Fox News Digital as a “typical southern festival paying homage to Helen Keller.”
The four-day pageant is held annually in June to commemorate Keller’s birthday on June 27, 1880.
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About 50,000 guests flock to Ivy Green yearly, Hamlin stated, a lot of whom participate in the festivities.
‘The Miracle Worker’ performances span generations
Now in its 63rd yr, “The Miracle Worker” at Ivy Green is extra than simply an appearing alternative for its 13-year-old star.
Lillie Meyer, in her third season of portraying Keller on the stage, was all the time in Keller’s life story, however Meyer stated the expertise has been instructional.
“I thought, before I started this, that I knew a lot about her, but now I realize that I didn’t,” Meyer instructed Fox News Digital in a video interview.
“The Miracle Worker” at Ivy Green has been Alabama’s official state out of doors drama since 1991, in accordance with its web site.
The inaugural efficiency on the property befell on June 29, 1962 – the identical yr the play was tailored into a movie starring Patty Duke as Keller and Anne Bancroft as Sullivan (performances that earned Oscars for each actresses).
Actress Anne Bancroft, taking part in educator Annie Sullivan, pleads with actress Patty Duke, taking part in Helen Keller, in the 1962 manufacturing of “The Miracle Worker.” Both received Oscars for his or her performances. (Bettman/Contributor/Getty Images)
Initially, the play was staged behind the home close to the effectively pump the place Sullivan taught Keller her first phrase, Hamlin stated.
“They had so many people coming that they built this outdoor theater there, which made it more comfortable and better, I’m sure, from that early time when it first started,” Hamlin defined.
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Even Gibson, the late playwright whom Hamlin stated visited Keller’s childhood residence for the primary time in 1996 earlier than his dying, was “so impressed” and “amazed at how they were able to bring the Helen Keller story to life right there at Ivy Green.”
Being a a part of “The Miracle Worker” in Keller’s yard makes it further particular for Meyer.
Lillie Meyer, age 13, stars as Helen Keller in a scene from “The Miracle Worker,” carried out on the grounds of Ivy Green, Keller’s birthplace, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. (Courtesy Mary Carton)
“It is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she stated.
The half can also be the “most challenging” for a relative newcomer. “It is a very different character from what you might see in other shows,” Meyer stated.
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The younger actress described present process coaching that spanned “a couple of weeks” spent together with her “Helen coach” (a earlier performer), throughout which era she discovered the bodily actions mandatory for the function.
“The show is very physical throughout,” she stated, referring to Keller’s scripted tantrums.
‘Simplistic’ magnificence
Magnolia bushes — which have been at Ivy Green because the home was constructed in 1820 — greet guests, Hamlin stated.
“The grounds are immaculately kept,” she stated.
Inside the “simplistic” home with inexperienced shutters and a picket shingle roof, tour guides take guests via every room, sharing tales of Keller’s life.
Helen Keller, pictured at left in 1887 at age 7, was born at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She lived in the home as a youngster. (Bettman/Contributor/Colbert County Tourism & Convention Bureau)
“It’s not a huge home, but it’s beautiful,” Hamlin stated.
Guests can see the largely genuine furnishings on the within. Hamlin stated 85% of the furnishings at Ivy Green are authentic, together with the beds the place Keller and Sullivan slept and the pre-Civil War cutlery on the eating room desk.
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Thanks to the Helen Keller Festival, Hamlin stated, this weekend’s visitors may even be handled to a parade via downtown Tuscumbia.
There can also be dwell music and a kids’s program in which “they learn to, sort of, relive the days of blind and deaf children just as Helen had to do it.”
Visitors inside Ivy Green, Helen Keller’s birthplace in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Colbert County’s tourism president Susann Hamlin stated 85% of the furnishings at Ivy Green are authentic. (Colbert County Tourism & Convention Bureau)
Ivy Green first opened to the general public in 1954. It has additionally been residence to “Camp Courage” since 2013, Hamlin stated.
The free camp is meant for kids with visible or listening to impairments.
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“It’s been a very successful program,” Hamlin stated. “We’ve had people from several states across the U.S. and one international child who came to ‘Camp Courage.'”
National Register of Historic Places
Ivy Green is in the town of Tuscumbia, Alabama, about 125 miles southwest of Nashville and 140 miles southeast of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s residence in Memphis.
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ivy Green is open to guests Monday via Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The final tour of the day begins at 3:45 p.m.
It is closed on Sundays, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Dec. 24-26 and New Year’s Day.
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Remaining performances of “The Miracle Worker” at Ivy Green are scheduled for June 28, June 29, July 12, July 13, July 19 and July 20.
Each present begins at 8 p.m.
The Helen Keller Festival runs via June 30.