Rethinking Tiny Tim: Should a Disabled Actor Play the Role? (Published 2019) (2024)

Sebastian Ortiz, 7, a first grader now making his Broadway debut in “A Christmas Carol,” scrunched up his face as he paused to think about what it means to be playing Tiny Tim onstage. “Always be brave,” he said.

“Always look on the bright side,” suggested Jai Ram Srinivasan, 8, a third grader sharing the role.

The two boys share a combination of bashfulness and optimism as they embark on an adventure unlike anything either has attempted before.

They share a dressing room, with coloring books and board games and a superhero corner tricked out with a Marvel Comics-themed mat and pillows.

And they share a diagnosis: both of them have cerebral palsy.

Charles Dickens introduced young Tim Cratchit to the world 176 years ago, and ever since the character has been a symbol of “A Christmas Carol” — the sickly but sanguine child whose plight helps transform Ebenezer Scrooge.

But now, in an era in which authenticity and representation have become entertainment industry watchwords, the presenters of some of the many theatrical adaptations that are staged every winter are rethinking who gets to play this iconic role, and often concluding that it should be a child with a disability.

In Illinois, Paris Strickland, an 11-year-old girl whose spine was compressed by cancer during childhood, will play Tiny Tim for the third year in a row at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. (Yes, at many theaters girls play the role.)