Book Review: Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor’s Journey to Broadway’s Biggest Stage by Mickey Rowe (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022)

—Cathy Ritchie

This book’s main title, Fearlessly Different, is letter-perfect. Actor Mickey Rowe is autistic and legally blind, and thereby “different,” especially considering his chosen profession. But the pages of  his memoir fairly glow with fearlessness, and with his urge to set far-reaching goals and embrace all obstacles. In 2017, he achieved a personal goal, becoming the first autistic actor to portray autistic character Christopher Boone, teenage hero of the smash stage hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Born in Seattle in 1988, Rowe grew up with autism and a love of performing in whatever mode possible. He embraced juggling, stilt walking, plate spinning and unicycling as ways to entertain lucky folks on the streets of the city. But stage acting was always a primary goal for Mickey, first pursued at Seattle Children’s Theater and then on other local stages. Learning about Curious Incident inspired Rowe’s fearlessness: he campaigned widely for the chance to become Christopher and bring his unique authenticity to the role.

Indiana Repertory Theatre finally gave him that opportunity in 2017 in their production of Curious Incident. A few years later, Rowe also shone in the title role of Amadeus for Syracuse Stage. Regarding the portrayal of persons with disabilities on stage, this actor has chosen the disability-rights mantra “Nothing About Us Without Us”—in this case an assertion that performers who are differently-abled should be front and center in shaping productions that claim to portray their reality.

Rowe offers several books in one: his own professional biography; his personal struggles with troubled relationships, including raising an autistic son as a single parent; a self-help manual for “different” performers; and a chronicle of his offstage public activism. He founded the National Disability Theatre,  which works in partnership with both La Jolla Playhouse and Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. He continues to direct at regional venues and to speak often on behalf of differently-abled performers.

Rowe writes with charm, quicksilver humor, and fierce conviction, often switching tones and topics within chapters. He is deeply committed to raising access awareness in all areas of life, though a few reviewers have taken issue with some allegedly unsubstantiated statistics he offers about disabilities, and the fact that his subtitle is misleading: Rowe has only speechified in Broadway settings, and not yet performed there on stage .

Nonetheless, the causes he embraces are richer for his advocacy, and readers benefit from his eloquent reminders that performers of every human “kind” deserve the opportunity to dream big—and to be heard and seen as Mickey Rowe ultimately was, and continues to be. He shows the way, and it shines a light for the rest of us.