Midwest Film Festival Rikki Lee Travolta in 'The Sleight'

Introduction

Disabled actor Rikki Lee Travolta has been announced as a Best Actor nominee in the Midwest Film Festival's Best of the Midwest Awards for his starring performance in the film The Sleight from 54 Scripts Productions.

Main Digest

Directed by Ben Kurstin and co-starring Amy Stricker, Isabel Fugatt, and Freda Hu, The Sleight is a thriller with dark comedy undertones about a small-time magician (Travolta) who is mistaken to be the reincarnated leader of a polygamous cult.

Travolta was diagnosed with mental illness in 2008. His diagnoses include bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and borderline personality disorder.

Prior to being diagnosed, Travolta entered the entertainment industry at a young age, appearing as Tiny Tim in a regional CBS broadcast of A Christmas Carol. He first made national headlines as a young adult when he was brought to Chicago in a stunt casting maneuver to revive ticket sales for the city's most well-known environmental comedy Tony n' Tina's Wedding.

The celebrity casting ploy was a hit, with ticket sales exploding when Travolta joined the cast. Fox Thing in the Morning host Marianne Murciano raved;

"I've seen the show before. With Rikki Lee Travolta the show is even better!"

The Midwest Film Festival award nomination comes as a part of a career rebirth for the actor. After being diagnosed and starting treatment in 2008, Travolta was unable to continue his performing career. However, in 2016 he made a triumphant return starring in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Since then, he has appeared in select film and television projects, with the motto: "We can't help being disabled. But we can show what disabled people can still accomplish."

"I don't do as many acting projects as I once did," says Travolta. "Since becoming disabled, doing any kind of acting project requires all the stars to be in alignment. And, to be honest, there is a certain stigma at play that makes some filmmakers hesitate to use disabled talent."

"While I am truly honored on a personal level for being nominated as best actor, what truly makes my heart soar is that a disabled actor is being recognized. It just happens to be me," adds Travolta. "We live in a changing world, one where differences are starting to be celebrated instead of hidden."

In 2015, Ali Stroker became the first actor to use a wheelchair to appear on a Broadway stage. A few years ago in 2019, she became the first person with a disability to be nominated and receive the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Troy Kotsur won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2022 for his role in Best Picture winner CODA. Troy is only the second deaf actor to win an Academy Award.

"There is still ample discrimination, and there likely will be for the foreseeable future. But we are making strides - huge strides. And my hope is as an industry we will continue to do so," concludes Travolta.

Now making his home in the Greater Chicago area, Travolta also hosts the weekly radio show and podcast It's Showtime with Rikki Lee, ranked as one of the world's top entertainment news broadcasts on Apple Podcasts. The half-hour interview program features guests ranging from Hollywood A-List talent to platinum-selling recording artists to up-and-comers looking for their first break.

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Update November 6th 2023

Disabled Chicago Entertainer Hits Trifecta - Takes Home Three Major Awards

The Midwest Film Festival Best of the Midwest Awards ceremony took place Thursday, November 2, 2023, at CineCity Chicago.

November is already proving to be a good month for Chicago-based entertainment personality Rikki Lee Travolta, who has won major awards in the past days as an actor, producer, and writer for three different projects - all despite being disabled.

A vocal advocate for the disabled, Rikki Lee Travolta won the Best Actor Award in the Midwest Film Festival's annual Best in the Midwest Awards for his performance in the film The Sleight from director Ben Kurstin for 54 Scripts Productions.

Only days earlier, Travolta earned the Best Television Pilot Award in the Seven Wonders International Film Festival as the producer of The Polish Cooking Show for PBS. Also in the Seven Wonders International Film Festival, he picked up the Critic's Choice Award for his original screenplay The Elvis Conspiracy - which marks the 13th championship win for the Rikki Lee Travolta-penned Elvis script in the last year.

As an alternate history thriller, Travolta's The Elvis Conspiracy takes real conspiracy theories and reimagines the world of Elvis as if they were true. It's a world in which Col. Tom Parker invents Elvis using multiple young men thanks to plastic surgery, lip-syncing, and an elaborate deception of the press.

"If you listen to how people talk about him, it's almost as if Elvis was different people at different points in his life - Young Elvis, Hollywood Elvis, and Las Vegas Elvis to name a few. The Elvis Conspiracy takes that idea and paints a picture as if it was true," explains the screenwriter.

Travolta is an award-winning creative professional who has worked in television, film, publishing, music, and theater. In 2008 he was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, and borderline personality disorder, but still works on select entertainment projects.

Travolta is one of a growing list of disabled performers to earn award wins in acting categories. In 2019, Ali Stroker became the first person with a disability to be nominated and receive the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2022, Troy Kotsur became only the second deaf actor to win an Academy Award with his victory for CODA.

"We can't help being disabled, but we can show what disabled people are capable of," insists Travolta. Of particular interest, Travolta's award-winning role in "The Sleight" is unique in that despite being disabled himself, Travolta plays a non-disabled character.

In The Sleight Travolta plays The Amazing Ron - a second-rate magician, eking out a living doing shows in hotel bars and banquet halls. His life changes when three beautiful women become convinced that he is the reincarnation of the leader of their religious sect.

Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for playing a man with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot. Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for playing a man without eyesight in Ray. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for playing a man with Autism in Rain Man. Travolta does the opposite, playing an able-minded character despite his own struggles.

As an actor, Travolta is represented by Don Underwood at Babes N' Beaus Model and Talent. Travolta's script The Elvis Conspiracy is represented by entertainment attorney Jeff Becker at Swanson, Marin, & Bell LLC. The Polish Cooking Show is produced by Love & Light Productions.

The Elvis Conspiracy has also won top honors in the Dimension Independent Film Festival, Movie Play International Film Festival, Cult Critic Movie Awards, Mojo International Film Awards, Virgin Spring Cinefest Film Festival, Bridge Fest Awards, Indo French International Film Festival, Golden Fern Film Awards, Rome Prisma Film Awards, Gangtok International Film Festival, Knight of the Reel Awards, and Royal Society of Television & Motion Picture Awards.

Travolta is outspoken in the media about his disability in an effort to serve as an inspiration to others living with similar challenges.

"Being disabled can be a lonely feeling. Sometimes there is a sense of doubt about your own value because you can't do certain things that others can or that you used to be able to and can't any longer," reflects the entertainer. "As an industry, instead of focusing on what people with disabilities can't do, we need to focus on what we can do."

Travolta does not do as many projects as he did before becoming disabled. However, he tries to contribute in as many ways as possible.

"Just because we can't do things a certain way doesn't mean we can't do them at all. Sometimes it just means we have to do it in our own way - a different way," says Travolta. "We live in a changing world, one where differences should be celebrated instead of hidden."

Additional information on Rikki Lee Travolta can be found at https://rikkileetravolta.com

Attribution/Source(s):

This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Life and Times, and published on 2023/10/25 (Edit Update: 2023/11/06), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Life and Times can be contacted at midwestfilm.com. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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