Friends and family of an actress from Wisconsin gather at watch party to celebrate her role in “Wicked”
PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wisc. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Friends and family of an actress from Wisconsin gathered at a watch party this past weekend to celebrate her historic role in "Wicked."
Marissa Bode is the first actress living with a disability to portray the character "Nessarose" in the musical adaptation.
She is making history, and this week has been an emotional one for those who are close to Bode. She was in a car crash when she was 11-years-old and paralyzed from the waist down but it didn't stop her from pursuing her dream of acting.
"Genuinely a dream. Still feels like a dream. But I'm here," Bode expressed.
Bode has made her debut on the big screen.
"I was just holding back tears the entire time," said Aniella Haas, Bode's former music teacher.
Haas is overwhelmed with emotions seeing how far her former student has come.
"Even when she first showed up, I was doing good. And then as soon as she started singing, they just overflowed. And it was pretty much just like that for the rest of the movie. It's just beautiful," Haas shared.
Bode, the first disabled actress to play "Nessarose," is traveling the world, meeting "Wicked" fans everywhere.
"Having the privilege of having a platform, and a growing platform, to talk about accessibility as a whole and how everybody, non-disabled or not, can work to create their spaces more accessible," Bode said.
Meanwhile, her family and friends back home are cheering her on.
Bode's parents, Sean and Patricia, said Saturday's showing at Prairie du Sac's Bonham Theatre was one of many.
"And it's not just that, dare I say, because Marissa's in it, but also because, you know, it is a really good movie...Seeing something like this that's been advertised for years, and especially one that's been anticipated for over 20 years, I think it's worth seeing over and over again," Sean said.
The tight-knit Mazomanie and Black Earth community will continue to celebrate Bode's historic role.
"They've been Following Marissa since 2011, shortly after the accident which caused the paralysis. But they've always been behind us," Sean added.
"Seeing me on screen but we had filmed everything like basically a year prior. And obviously, I knew that I did it. I know that I was there, but to see it actually on the screen was just very, very surreal," Bode remarked.
According to her parents, Bode has been everywhere, from London to Los Angeles to Australia.
After promoting the film, she will be taking a well-deserved break before coming home for Christmas.
