Page 45 - ABILITY Magazine - Avril Lavigne Issue

Mulberry Tree Group. We take taboo subjects and address them in the arts, be it poetry, theater, musicals... Some of these things fall in line with that mission, including domestic violence, incest, depression. My wife has a dance script based on depression. She also did a project called “Awakenings Through Poetry,” which was for hospice workers and people who have Alzheimer’s. And then we have her musical, and another somewhat taboo subject is, of course, women going through menopause, so we decided to film a new web series, hopefully called “Hot Flash.” You got questions? I got answers.
Cooper: The talk you gave in Cincinnati, is that something you’ve honed to do around the country for different organizations?
Woodburn: When I went to Cincinnati 10 years ago, I did the keynote at a dinner gala awards ceremony for the Inclusion Network. I talked about how the city could be more inclusive of people with disabilities and why that was important. I ended up connecting with the RealA- BILITIES people there. They had banners up around town with Marlee Matlin and Daryl “Chill” Mitchell. And then Kurt Yaeger from Sons of Anarchy came out, and they put up banners with his picture and mine on them. I’d never seen my face on a banner in any city, so I was like, “I’d love to get a picture of that.”
Cooper: Usually your picture’s up at the post office?
(laughter)
Woodburn: Right. But there it was hanging off streetlights. Unfortu- nately, I didn’t get a chance to get a shot of it, so I asked if someone could take a picture of it and send it to me. Instead, they shipped me the whole banner. I said, “What am I gonna do with a nine-foot image of myself?”
Cooper: Wrap it around your car!
Woodburn: Hang it like a flag.
Martirosyan: It would have been good to see the banner as it hung in the city. They didn’t get that that’s what you wanted?
Woodburn: I guess not. It’s kind of tough to enjoy it stretched out across my living room floor.
(laughter)
Martirosyan: What about a slip-and-slide?
Woodburn: Or at the bottom of my pool, so I can look down on myself. (laughter)
Cooper: Tell us about Hot Flash. That’s a web series?
Woodburn: Yeah, we’re looking for funding. Once it’s done, we’ll put it out there. I’m going to reach out to some drug companies, and see if they’d be interested in producing it.
Cooper: That’s a good idea.
Woodburn: ‘Cause people don’t really talk about women’s parts very
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