The Broadway production of The Lion King fired comedian and performer Keith Wann because of his skin tone. When the Theater Development Fund announced that white interpreters would not be permitted to represent black characters in ASL Broadway musicals, Keith was one of two people who were asked to quit the show.
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Wann filed a discrimination claim against Lisa Carling, the director of accessibility efforts, on November 8. The New York Post obtained the complaint and emails in which Carling demanded that Wann and interpreter Christina Mosleh stop performing to be replaced by black sign language practitioners. He told the publication the following in reaction to the case:
Realizing that prejudice doesn’t affect me whether I’m white or black. This is plain to see, and I’m hopeful that more people will come forward with similar experiences.
Keith Wann was asked to work on the play in March of this year. He was surprised when Carling asked him and another translator to leave the show in an email. As stated in the email:
I humbly and remorsefully ask that you both back out of translating the concert for us on Sunday, April 24. No other way out of this situation exists. It appears to be your best choice.
When Shelly Guy, the ASL director for The Lion King, pleaded with Carling to do so, Carling decided to fire Wann. The guy informed Carling that the play was set in Africa and that the majority of the characters were played by black actors in April 2022. Guy feels that although Wann is a great actor, he shouldn’t play the Lion King because he isn’t black.
Despite earning $1,000 for his efforts, Keith Wann was fired the next day. Carling’s emails and phone calls went unanswered as he weighed his options before deciding to take the issue to Manhattan Federal Court. Mosleh has not yet responded, and Disney Theatrical Productions, Carling, Guy, and Theatre Development Fund have all declined to comment.
ASL and Keith Wann
On January 4, 1969, Keith Wann was born to deaf parents. He debuted with the ASL Improve Group in 2002 and began his solo career in 2004. He gained notoriety by uploading an ASL parody of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby to YouTube.
ASL performer Keith Wann has appeared in several short films. Additionally, he has appeared in Pepsi commercials and episodes of Quantico and Law & Order. He currently works at Sign It! American Sign Language Made Simple as a performer and writer. Wann even makes weekend flights to the US to perform alone and on the ASL comedy tour.
He is an advocate for ASL and also provides lectures. Wann and his wife Emilia are currently touring the nation to give the ASL community easy access to the legal system. He and Emilia joined LegalShield as independent associates.
Wann also delivers lectures, and some ASL students use his monthly ASL song club as a creative way to study sign language.
He has been in several Broadway productions, including Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, School of Rock, Noises Off, and Noises Off. In addition to co-creating various solo ASL performances and hosting the ASL Comedy Tour for ten years, Keith Wann worked with Sia on the music video for her song, Soon We’ll Be Found.
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