Radio City style evolution

I was Louie the Elf in the Chicago production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in 1997 and 1998.  Before a show in 1997, a few of the other elves and I were sitting in our dressing room as some of the dancers from the cast made their way to the stage. At most, the little people cast in the show were in three scenes.  A few of the little people were in just one scene, "Santa's Workshop."  Hence, the little people, myself included, spent a lot of time just sitting around waiting for our scenes.  That's what we were doing that day in 1997 when the dancers filed past our room.  One of them, looking in at us, said something like, "Don't forget to smile."  In a way, the comment was disparaging and disdainful.  While in order to be cast for the show, the dancers and Rockettes needed to be skilled performers, the little people didn't need much skill.  We just needed to be able to move around, and to smile.  That's not to say some of the little people in Radio City shows aren't talented.  Some are very talented.  Some have moved on to act in mainstream movies and theater.  But not much skill was needed to play Louie the Elf, or any of the other elves.  When the dancer made the comment, it was as if he resented us for having it relatively easy on the Radio City set.  If the dancer did have an issue with the elves, he wasn't the only one.  Others have disliked the role because they believe it objectified little people.  Considering we were cast simply because we were little people, there probably is some truth to that belief.

For many years, Little People of America had a working relationship with Radio City.  Radio City would recruit elves at the National Conference.  In 2009, because of concerns noted above (around objectification), the organizers of the national Little People of America Conference didn't invite Radio City back.  After the 2009 conference, Little People of America as an organization passed a resolution that would allow Radio City to return to the National Conference only if employment recruiters from at least three other industries (non entertainment industries) also participated in the conference.  To this point, that has not happened. 

Radio City still performs in Chicago.  For the past two months, once a week while I shop for groceries at the Jewel Food Store, I hear advertisements for the show blasted over the intercom system between songs.  Every time I hear the advertisement, I think of my two seasons with Radio City.  Unlike Peter Dinklage and his triumphs in show business, I made no constructive contribution to awareness around little people while I performed as Louie the Elf, though I did have a very good time. But if I were looking for that same good time today, I wouldn't be able to find it.  A few weeks ago, I found a review of the Radio City show in the Chicago Tribune.  To my surprise, the article indicated that elves are no longer part of the show (for whatever it's worth -- neither are live animals).  I am sure there is no connection between the fact that little people are no longer a part of the Chicago show, and that Little People of America hasn't hosted auditions since 2008.  After all, I am almost positive that the Radio City show in New York still casts elves.  And I am sure Radio City has resources besides LPA Conferences to recruit little people.  Nevertheless, Radio City must have made a conscious decision to no longer include little people in the Chicago show, and perhaps other shows.  For whatever reason the decision was made, I can't help but feel everyone involved, or not involved, is a bit better off with the revised Chicago show.  At least when it comes to the Rockettes, the critic for the Tribune seemed to think so, writing But, "in general, they are more dignified in the 2012 edition of this show than at any of the other 10 times or so I've seen them out there kicking."

Different motions -- more on Entertainment Panel at 2012 Conference

Yesterday, July 7, I wrote about a panel that I had sat on as part of the 2012 Little People of America Conference in Dallas.  In that post, I focused on the impact of the show "Life's Too Short" on dwarfism audiences in the United States. In addition to providing a good discussion around "Life's Too Short" and other issues related to entertainment, the panel reinforced in my mind a decision that Little People of America made within the past few years.  A few times since 2009, the Little People of America Board of Directors has addressed a motion, or a resolution, that, if adopted by the board, would have forbidden any type of recruitment by the entertainment industry at Little People of America Conferences.  In the past, Radio City has recruited little people at national conferences to perform as elves in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.  Radio City's presence at conferences raised two concerns.  First, it pegs dwarfs as an industry specific community for employment.  If no other company is recruiting employees at conferences, it sends a message to younger people that people with dwarfism are expected to go into entertainment.  Or, it sets up Radio City as a fallback measure for people who are struggling to find other employment.  This happened to me to some extent.  I was in the midst of a job that wasn't going anywhere.  I heard Radio City was fun, so I thought, "What the heck! I will give it a shot."  I performed with the show in Chicago for two years.  It was a lot of fun.

Second, some people say that elves reinforce traditional stereotypes of dwarfs as fantasy creatures, perpetuating stereotypes that make it difficult for the general community to treat people of short stature as they would others.  Whether this is true or not, if some people believe it, and if Little People of America appears to support it by partnering with Radio City, it creates a conflict.   In an attempt to terminate the relationship between Radio City and Little People of America, and to prevent future types of relationships, a motion to deny entertainment recruitment at the conference was introduced.  While I agree that using Little People of America Conferences as a space to recruit dwarfs for entertainment roles is problematic, I was against the motion.  As an organization, Little People of America is meant to be a space in which all people with dwarfism should feel accepted and welcomed.  Such a motion would have implicitly judged some little people negatively for the decisions they made.    Indirectly, it could have made them feel unwelcome. 

I supported a different motion.  A motion that would welcome Radio City to national conferences, but only if at least three other employment industries (non entertainment industries) also attended conferences with the intent of hiring little people for jobs.  By providing options other than entertainment, this motion would address the problem of sending the message that there is the expectation that many little people will pursue entertainment as a career.  In the end, it was the second motion that was approved by the board.  Next year, at the 2013 conference in Washington, the motion may be tested for the first time.  Little People of America's Employment Committee Chair plans to host a job fair.  I am very excited and believe the job fair will be a success.

But once, on a conference call within the past few years, the board came within  just a vote of passing the original motion.  I hadn't thought about it much recently.  But sitting on the panel last week, I was relieved that the original motion never passed.  On the panel was an actor and a recruiter.  And within the audience there were more actors who participated in the entertainment field.  As I said before, Little People of America's role is to create a welcoming environment, regardless of what type of decision an individual has made in employment.  It would have been strange and uncomfortable to sit on the panel, knowing that some people in the room had been made to feel unwelcome because of a policy decision made by the organization.

This is not to say that Little People of America does not have a role in confronting negative stereotypes in entertainment, and promoting positive awareness and positive messages of dwarfism.  We do have a role and a responsibility to that end.  And sometimes, that responsibility will force us to go after the entertainment industry or least specific aspects of it.  But this doesn't mean that Little People of America can create an environment in which people of short stature feel unwelcome within the organization.