Image Description: A bald, Caucasian man seated on a white block against a black background. He is wearing a teal long-sleeve henley shirt and tan shorts. He wears two prosthetic legs, both extending from below the knee, with realistic-looking feet and sleek, metallic shafts.
David Connolly is the Artistic Director for Drayton Entertainment, recipient of The 2024 Canadian Actors’ Equity inaugural Change Maker Award, a proud disability and inclusion advocate and the first amputee to have performed on Broadway.
As a Director/Choreographer, he has helmed the Canadian premiere productions of The Prom, Kinky Boots, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Mamma Mia!, Newsies and many more. For the screen, he has directed several series for CBC including The Doodlebops, as well as projects for Disney, CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. He has collaborated with artists including Katy Perry, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, kd lang, Patti LaBelle, Sarah Brightman and many others.
As an Educator, David leads the Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy and has been an Adjunct Professor and Advisor to the Musical Theatre Performance Programs at Sheridan College, Western University, VanderCook College and most recently, the Hopkins Centre for the Arts at Dartmouth College.
David is a recipient of the Ontario Premier’s Award of Excellence and a speaker for the DEI Committee of the International Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance. For five years, David has curated and moderated a disability inclusion panel at BroadwayCon in New York to help develop actionable steps to improve disabled representation onstage. He has proudly served as a peer assessor for The Canada Council for the Arts, and as an Ambassador for the Shriner's Hospital for Children, and the War Amps Child Amputee Program.
**Casting Disabled Artists October 9, 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Moderator: David Connolly Panelists: Alexia Vassos, George Alevizos, Prince Amponsah, Yousef Kadoura Location: Aki Studio** Representation matters, but authentic and equitable casting of disabled artists is still far from the industry standard. This panel explores best practices, dismantles harmful stereotypes, and highlights the importance of creating space for disabled talent both onstage and behind the scenes. Join David Connolly, Artistic Director of Drayton Entertainment, with our panel of disabled actors in conversation about building inclusive pipelines and reshaping the future of performance.