Shayla Winn rehearses for SPARC's production of "Aida" at Henrico Theatre. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Shayla Winn’s performance as the title character in the musical “Aida” brought the audience to its feet every night during the show’s run last November at the Specialty Center for the Arts at Thomas Dale High School.
But what many in the crowd didn’t know is that Winn couldn’t see her fellow actors’ faces — or much else, for that matter.
“I realized that, looking out into the light, she wasn’t able to see all the people standing for her, which kind of broke my heart,” says Sarah Roquemore, Winn's theater teacher and the show’s director.
This weekend (July 27-29), Winn will again step into the role of Nubia’s princess in the School of Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC) summer musical production at Henrico Theatre. It will be the first time SPARC has cast a student with visual impairment in a show, says Sara Marsden, the organization’s marketing director.
It’s no surprise that Winn’s audition impressed SPARC’s production team, Roquemore says: “You hear people talk about performers having ‘that spark.’ Shayla has that spark. She is one of the kids who light up a room when she’s in that performance mode. Her voice is one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard in a high schooler.”
Shayla Winn talks with Director Happy Mahaney during rehearsals for SPARC's production of "Aida." (Photo by Jay Paul)
Just two months before appearing in the production at Thomas Dale, Winn had undergone surgery to treat an epidermoid cyst in her brain.
Lead roles were cast the previous spring, and rehearsal began when school resumed in September.
“We noticed she was having trouble some days reading her script,” Roquemore says. “She’d be squinting.”
Shayla's mother, Sandra Winn, made an appointment with an ophthalmologist after Shayla began having trouble seeing the blackboard at school. On the day of the appointment, Sept. 22, 2017, Shayla’s head started hurting, her mother says.
“The [doctor] said her optic nerves were swollen,” Sandra says. “She called a neurologist to get a second opinion, and the neurologist told her to send us to the emergency room."
Friends from the “Aida” cast met them at the hospital and stayed there all night with Shayla.
An MRI confirmed a blockage in the brain, but it wasn’t until after the surgery a couple of days later that the complete picture emerged, Sandra says. Over many years, a cyst had developed between the third and fourth ventricles of Shayla’s brain. “It eventually blocked her spinal cord fluid, and the pressure from the fluid buildup pushed against her optic nerve.”
Because the cyst had attached to parts of Shayla’s brain, the surgeon didn’t attempt to remove it entirely, Sandra says. “They wanted to do the least invasive surgery they could. He drilled a hole so the fluid could drain.”
After the surgery, Shayla essentially had no vision in her right eye. She could see from her left eye out of what her mother describes as a 'straw hole,' but her peripheral vision was gone. A few weeks later, the vision in her left eye became blurry.
“I went to see her in the hospital a couple of days after her surgery,” Roquemore says. “I remember I walked into the room and she had just come out of surgery, and her first words to me were, ‘Ms. Roquemore, am I going to lose the part?’ I had no idea whether she’d be able to come back to school in time, whether she’d get her vision back. I said we would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Christopher Revercomb rehearses with Shayla; Jana Harmon, Angelina Anderson, Layla Gardner, Synia-Jade Morris, Nalani Payson, Karly Ramnani, Jasmine Richardson and Maya Walton are in the background. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Shayla did not get her vision back, but she was determined not to let that obstacle stop her from playing the role of her dreams.
“I have to be strong like Aida was for her people,” Sandra recalls her daughter saying.
While in the hospital and at home recovering afterward, Shayla worked on memorizing lines and songs. Cast members would come to her house and practice with her.
“I told my mom, ‘This is my first lead role. I am not letting that go,’ ” Shayla says.
By the time she was able to attend rehearsals, the show was only two weeks away.
“When she came back, she had every line memorized, all of her songs,” Roquemore says. “Our biggest concern was never her performing, it was just that she would be safe. ... She believes in herself and everybody else has no other option but to believe in her. ”
To help Winn navigate, the crew placed textured foam and tape on the stage. Fellow cast and crew members helped guide her stage entrances and exits. Now, some of those techniques are being used in SPARC’s production of the Elton John and Tim Rice musical based on the Giuseppe Verdi opera.
Shayla Winn, playing the title role as the princess of Nubia, rehearses a scene from "Aida."
Director Happy Mahaney met with Winn and her mother to see what they could do to accommodate her.
“I can see some aspects of color — the colors on stage are brighter to me, so they stand out,” Winn says during a break in rehearsal at the Henrico Theatre.
During a recent follow-up medical appointment, Shayla’s neuroophthalmologist was surprised to see a little bit of improvement in the peripheral vision in her left eye, Sandra says. Though Shayla can’t distinguish faces, she can see shapes. “She can see there’s an image in front of her, but can’t see what it looks like.”
While performing, Winn is barefoot so she can feel the texture of the tape onstage. (The red-and-blue tape is coated with a mixture of glue and sand.)
“We taped a color that she could really see a definite edge to for blocking and learning where to be on the stage,” says Mahaney.
The original set design also was altered to reduce the number of levels and make it easier for Winn to move around.
“If the actor can tell the story, then we can figure out how to make the show work successfully,” Mahaney says.
Now a rising high school senior majoring in vocal performance, Winn says she identifies with the character of Aida, who finds herself in a frightening and overwhelming situation after being captured by Egyptian soldiers, but refuses to let her spirit be crushed.
“Aida is using me as a vessel to tell her story. It wasn’t Shayla playing Aida. I was Aida. She has to be strong, I have to be strong,” Winn says. “Everyone’s expecting me to be down. I’m going to take this to the best of my advantage.”
"Aida" will be performed at the Henrico Theatre on July 27-28 at 7:30 p.m. and July 28-29 at 2:30 pm. Tickets cost $18 and can be purchased at sparcrichmond.org. In an effort to ensure the accessibility of the show, Saturday’s matinee performance will be sign-interpreted for those who are hard of hearing, and Sunday’s matinee will be audio described for the visually impaired.