And his older brother, Josh.
Both have a form of muscular dystrophy, Becker, that those closest to them or who have known them for years are aware of, but others could miss.
But Jess Westman, a Hardin-Simmons senior, put his theater talents to the task of shining a light. Not just on muscular dystrophy but on the disabled.
He has written the script and music for Wheels: An Original Musical, a production that opens Thursday at Behrens Auditorium at HSU. He also is the director, with the assistance of Dylan Scott.
Westman also is one of the main characters, Elijah. Elijah and his sister, Nancy, have an even more serious form of muscular dystrophy, called Duchenne. It primarily affects boys and begins its debilitating effects at an early age.
Hardin-Simmons showtunes show, pitched away by pandemic, is back
Tony Barone missed out on a 2020 trip to Scotland with other Hardin-Simmons University students.
But on his calendar he has summer 2022, when HSU will take students, world health permitting, to New York City. It was sad and I was upset, he said of plans being dashed a year ago by COVID-19. But I understood.
A junior from Abilene who was home-schooled before college, he won t make it to Scotland, a trip now set for 2024. But a return to New York City would be great way to finish his senior year.
Barone is one of more than two dozen vocal performance and musical theater students who will sing in Saturday s Starlight Extravaganza, an event at Van Ellis Theatre that will raise funds for that New York trip next summer.