Advocates for blind and deaf performers are criticizing the casting of a seeing and hearing actress to play Helen Keller in a forthcoming off-Broadway production of The Miracle Worker, says The New York Times.

“We do not think it’s OK for reputable producers to cast this lead role without seriously considering an actress from our community,” said Sharon Johnson, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, of the choice of Abigail Breslin, the Oscar-nominated co-star of Little Miss Sunshine.

David Richenthal said his chief criterion in casting the role was to line up a prominent actress, saying it would be “financially irresponsible” to mount a major revival “without making a serious effort to get a star.”

In other arts news, Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival has hired Elizabeth Hurley, the Metropolitan Opera’s top fund raiser, as its executive director, according to the Chicago Tribune.

And Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum plans to issue $35-million in bonds to raise money for the construction of a planned new building and to renovate its existing facility, according to the Boston Business Journal.

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