Ms Wheelchair USA and Shelvis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhfQ5Cm_rs0

It’s 7:00 am on a hot, summer, Colorado morning. The car is loaded with snacks, costumes, a variety of microphones and a lame collection of 80’s music for the drive. Shelvis and I are off to South Dakota for the Miss Wheelchair America competition, where Shelvis is the headline act for the night.
Shelvis is actually an entertainer named Lori Marie Muha. She is somewhat of a local celebrity in Denver, Colorado. As you might ascertain from her moniker, she is an Elvis impersonator. And while performing Elvis is how she got her start in show biz, at the tender age of 9 years old, her act is much bigger than crooning like the King.
Lori begins her show dressed as Buddy Holly. She sings (yes, sings… not lip syncs) a variety of music from 1950’s legends like Ricky Nelson, Dion and Buddy Holly. Then, right before the audience’s eyes, she changes jackets and shirts (she layers them) and becomes John Travolta, aka Danny, from Grease. Undoubtedly her best character, Lori strikes an uncanny resemblance to Travolta and has his mannerisms down to a science. She sings songs from Grease, involving the audience throughout. Every show has a Sandy-wannabe who eagerly comes up to help with “Summer Nights”. Lori moves into her other characters in a similar fashion, changing shirts or jackets to become Neil Diamond, Tom Jones, and, of course, Elvis. The highlight of the show is at the end when she strips down to her final costume revealing her womanly features and long black hair while Shania Twain sings “Feels Like a Woman” in the background. The crowd is always amazed, and often confused, to learn that this good looking man who was flirting with the women in the room is actually a woman. Ironically, unless Shelvis is playing for a gay audience, the crowd rarely makes the connection that Lori is a Lesbian.
I’ve been to more Shelvis shows in the three years we’ve been together than I can count. I’m often asked if I tire of seeing the show over and over again, but the answer is emphatically no. Every show is different. Every audience is different. Shelvis performs at the VFW Hall and at Pridefest to equally enthusiastic audiences. I knew this show would be different. I just didn’t know how different.
As we made our way across Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, Lori’s excitement for the show grew exponentially with each mile. This show is different for Lori. It’s very personal. Santina Muha, her niece, is competing in the contest as Miss Wheelchair New Jersey. Santina has no idea that her aunt is coming, let alone performing. It’s a surprise Lori has been plotting for two months. Santina is very dear to Lori and they have both had a tough year, losing Lori’s mother (Santina’s grandmother) to cancer about a year ago. Santina also lost her other grandmother a few months ago. Both Santina and Lori are in desperate need of some healing from these losses.
We arrived in South Dakota seven hours later, tired yet excited. Although Lori’s intention was to surprise Santina at the event when she performed, she couldn’t postpone seeing her niece another second. She sought her out immediately and found her in an interview session. Santina was, of course, shocked and thrilled to see her.
As we milled around the hotel in the hours before the show we began to realize the significance of the contest. The contestants, 27 in all, represent their states, but they also represent vast differences in their disabilities. We saw beautiful young women in their early 20’s are who are recently disabled from an accident or tragic event. These women compete side-by-side with women who were born with Cerebral Palsy and have lived with their disabilities their entire lives. There were as many different versions of disability as there were women. Some had arms, some didn’t. Some were in their 20’s, some were in their 30’s. Some could perform most functions on their own, others needed a constant companion. But all were accomplished in their own way. And all were there to compete for, and win, the Ms. Wheelchair America crown and sash.
Since 1972 the mission of Ms. Wheelchair America has been to “provide an opportunity for women of achievement, who happen to be wheelchair users, to successfully educate and advocate for the more than 52 million Americans living with disabilities.” It is a competition based on “advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation to select the most accomplished and articulate spokesperson for individuals with disabilities.”
The contest itself lasts for over four days. The events leading up to the crowning include dozens of interviews and who knows what else. We are there for the first night of the contest and the theme is 50’s night. The contestants are properly dressed in poodle skirts and pony tails for the event. Shelvis is the entertainment for the evening, which Santina is unaware of. She has seen her aunt perform in relative’s living rooms, but has never seen her entire act. Shelvis paces nervously outside of the banquet room, awaiting her introduction. When she is finally introduced, Santina screams with delight and with contagious energy, her fellow contestants follow suit. Shelvis performs the show of her life, singing and dancing with the girls, including everyone in the act. The love and pride between Santina and Shelvis was evident throughout the evening.
At one point in the show, Lori asks for volunteers in the audience to come up and be her “greasers” for the Grease Lightening portion of the show. Every single girl came up and circled Shelvis in their chairs. They all danced in their own way and laughed and sang and cheered. It was an amazing sight.
And then, at the end of the show, when Shelvis reveals herself as a woman, the irony came full circle. Just as Shelvis reveals the person underneath the costumes, these girls were revealing to the world that they are not women in wheelchairs. They are accomplished, beautiful, intelligent women with so much more to show to the world than what the world sees at first glance. The delightful surprise of finding beauty and talent in unsuspecting places is the lesson these girls are here to teach us. What a wonderful world it is for those of us willing to open our minds and take a second look.