‘Thomas & Me’ succeeds because Thomas Ellenson refuses to let cerebral palsy define either his life or his art.
A gifted actor and playwright, Ellenson commands this autobiographical musical from his power wheelchair, communicating through an iPad while making his distinctive voice unmistakably clear. The result is more than a personal history; it is an affectionate tribute to theater’s power to reveal what is singular in us. As Ellenson observes, “people look for people like them. But in the theater they look for what is different.”
The show opens with Norm, Thomas’s aide, helping him dress, immediately establishing how much Thomas relies on others for even basic tasks. Yet Thomas is determined to move beyond the limitations imposed by cerebral palsy. Tyler Austin White, whose credits include Hair at the Rockaway Theater Company and Legally Blonde at Gallery Players, portrays Norm with care but without cloying sympathy.
Before asking Michelle to marry him, Thomas reassesses the course of his life. Michelle, an accountant who loves musicals, is played by Mairead O’Neilly as a woman who sees Thomas as a whole person and loves him for who he is. O’Neilly’s regional theater credits include I and You at Penguin Theater and Soft Star at Boston Playwright Theater.
Ellenson asks the audience whether this is the right moment to propose, joking that “this is like therapy” and “I should really be paying you, but that’s not how theatre works.” He then traces Thomas’s life from birth to the present, revisiting childhood, friendships, and pivotal choices. Intimate and funny, the musical is not simply about disability; it is about growing up, falling in love, and becoming fully oneself.
The music and lyrics come from a Drama Desk–nominated composer and lyricist whose musicals include No Way to Treat a Lady and The Gig.
For ninety minutes, Ellenson holds the stage with an unflinching, deeply personal performance. Through wit, music, and candor, he challenges the audience to look beyond cerebral palsy and encounter the full complexity of the person before them. That clear-eyed humanity is what gives Thomas & Me its lasting power.
