Breaking Barriers Discover the Difference

University of Denver graduate Jenna Bainbridge is shaping the future of theatre arts by making Broadway performance history. As the first ambulatory wheelchair user to perform the role of Nessarose Thropp in the musical “Wicked” during its 22-year run on Broadway, she has achieved a significant milestone for inclusivity and accessibly in the theater world.

During and after her studies at DU, Bainbridge honed her craft at local and regional theatre companies, including Denver’s Phamaly Theatre Company, which exclusively casts performers with disabilities. She turned her sights toward Broadway during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the audition process shifted to virtual platforms, it became more accessible to performers living outside of New York.

“Suddenly, you could start auditioning for things remotely, because you weren’t meeting in person anyway,” she recalls.” So, I started auditioning for Broadway shows.”

Bainbridge soon booked a role with a new musical production called “Suffs,” a story about the women’s suffragette movement, where she was the first wheelchair user to originate a role in a new musical on Broadway. In 2024, “Suffs” won two Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Music, and a PBS “Great Performances” film of the production is coming soon.

“Developing a new musical meant that it was constantly changing, evolving. We were building these characters from the ground up,” Bainbridge says.

Three years later, after “Suffs” closed, Bainbridge decided to audition for “Wicked,” in part because the musical features a character in a wheelchair.

“I was considering productions where a disabled actor might inform the storytelling, where I thought a creative team might be open to seeing me,” she says. “’Wicked’ immediately popped out.”

Mentorship in Perfect Harmony

Bainbridge’s talent as a performer and vocalist, as well as her passion for theatre, was fostered during her years at the Lamont School of Music at DU, where she earned her bachelors of music degree with an emphasis in musical theatre, graduating magna cum laude with distinction and a Scholastic Achievement Award.

As a member of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity and scholarship recipient (Provost Scholarship, McCloraine Scholarship, and SAI Musical Theatre Scholarship), Bainbridge felt a deep sense of support and belonging on campus.

Photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy of “Wicked”

Photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy of “Wicked”

“It was very exciting to me that such a fantastic voice program offered me such a big scholarship — it really felt like they wanted me there and believed in me,” she says, recalling her decision to choose DU for college. “DU saw the potential in what my voice could do. I wasn't getting that same feedback from a lot of schools. You want to go where you're wanted, and I felt very wanted at DU.”

As a DU student, Bainbridge worked closely with Catherine Kasch, teaching associate professor in voice at Lamont, who taught her approaches to singing that best serve and support her body and abilities, particularly singing while seated in her wheelchair.

“Cathy and I worked a lot during voice lessons to figure out how I could best use my body, the techniques and options I had available,” Bainbridge recalls. “So many teachers that I’d had before and since have a very one-size-fits-all approach to voice. But Cathy’s approach was, ‘If that doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work.’”

“For a singer, breath support is paramount,” Kasch says. “When part of the body is paralyzed, it is a challenge to get those support muscles working. This was a challenge as Jenna’s teacher, but she always came through and performed beautifully. She did everything — dancing, singing, acting.”

Bainbridge also remembers that her professors empowered her to professionalize and engage with the community while she was still an undergraduate, encouraging her to work as a performer in regional theatres alongside her studies.

“DU was always bringing people from the community to teach us,” Bainbridge says. “We worked with directors and choreographers from local theaters. That was so valuable because it’s the best way to enter any industry — to know people there, and to build a level of trust and rapport.”

Her college schedule required flexibility and perseverance. She juggled rescheduled final exams, thanks to understanding and supportive professors, and cross-country flights during busy academic quarters. However, the work experience she gained during those years enabled her to earn membership to the Actor’s Equity Association — the U.S. labor union representing over 50,000 actors and stage managers — by the time she graduated, launching her professional career at a relatively young age.

Kasch reflects on how Jenna worked hard during her studies at DU to make her disability an asset, not an obstacle, to her success. “Jenna was such a positive, bright, talented part of our Lamont community,” she says. “On stage, her disability became a natural part of the beautiful story she was telling.”

Learn More About Lamont School of Music

Photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy of “Wicked”

Advocacy in the Spotlight

Disability advocacy has been central to Bainbridge’s life and career as a performer. Since becoming Broadway’s Nessarose Thropp, she has enjoyed increased attention on social media, an opportunity she has embraced to connect with and educate new audiences.

“As a public figure, a performer, you naturally have an audience,” she says. “I think it's therefore your duty to speak to what is important to you. For me, that’s disability, ablism, inclusion, and accessibility.”

On TikTok, Bainbridge speaks to and answers questions about her experiences as a person and performer with a disability, sharing stories from behind-the-scenes of “Wicked” and responding directly to her followers. “No matter what the question is, I try to answer it,” she says. “My hope is that by engaging in those conversations, people can learn something that they can take away from it.”

Her TikTok channel features series like “Roles That Are Better Disabled,” where she explores plays and musicals that could benefit from more inclusive casting, putting a playful, engaging spin on her messaging.

Another meaningful way Bainbridge embodies representation is the way she takes her bow at the end of “Wicked”: in her own personal wheelchair. In addition to serving her physical needs, she hopes the gesture makes an impression.

“I wanted the audience to know that, like Nessarose, I am also a wheelchair user — that I, the actor, identify with this character so deeply on a physical level,” she says. “And I wanted the audience to see a different type of wheelchair and movement. Unlike the prop wheelchair I use on stage, my personal wheelchair is very speedy, very sleek, and I wanted the audience to see that — disabled joy.”

Recently, a group of DU alumni, donors, and friends had the opportunity to see Bainbridge’s performance, and her first-of-its-kind curtain call, during a special university-organized trip to New York that included a talkback discussion with the cast. During that conversation, Bainbridge discovered that another member of the “Wicked” team, Alyce Gilbert, a wardrobe supervisor with more than fifty years of experience working in professional theatre, is also a DU alum.

Photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy of “Wicked”

Building a More Accessible Future for the Arts

In 2021, Bainbridge co-founded the nonprofit Consultability with her husband, Paul Behrhorst; they met while working for the Phamaly Theatre Company in Denver. Consultability supports theatre and other art organizations in making their spaces, practices, and policies more accessible for artists with disabilities through training sessions and consulting.

“Our goal is simple,” Bainbridge says, “to advocate for disabled artists so they can do their jobs. I recently heard from a performer at a company we worked with who told me they didn’t have to worry about accessibility for the first time. That they could just focus on being an actor. That meant the world to me.”

Jenna Bainbridge, center, performs in the Broadway musical *Suffs*. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

Jenna Bainbridge, center, performs in the Broadway musical *Suffs*. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

Bainbridge says that she has been proud to witness so much progress in the theatre world in terms of inclusivity and accessibility, but that there is still important work to do.

“Twenty percent of the population has a disability, and soon, I hope, 20% of the roles we see on stage will represent that,” she says, “as well as 20% of people working offstage, building and creating these shows. We need more representation on both sides of the curtain.”

Her vision of the future of the arts will require continued work at all levels of theatre-making, and Bainbridge believes it is possible, so long as people continue to speak up and advocate for hiring, casting, and celebrating artists with disabilities.

“I want to see disabled roles written by disabled playwrights and directed by disabled directors,” Bainbridge says. “I want to see disabled creative teams telling authentic stories about disability. And I also want to see disabled actors given chances to play all roles, even those not written as disabled characters.”

Bainbridge’s portrayal of Nessarose Thropp marks significant progress toward realizing this vision. As the world changes, slowly but surely, toward more inclusivity, Bainbridge encourages artists with disabilities to keep putting themselves in “rooms of possibility.”

“I love so many aspects of my disability,” she says, “but one of the things that I love most is that it has really taught me creative problem solving. That’s my advice for other disabled performers. When you’re a creative problem solver, you can always find an answer.”

Support Current & Future Lamont Students