Video: Ali Stroker Closes Out Paralympics with National Anthem
The arrangements and orchestrations were done by musical director Benjamin Rauhala.
By: Josh Sharpe Sep. 09, 2024
Tony Winner Ali Stroker took the stage on Sunday to perform a rendition of the National Anthem to close out the 2024 Paralympics, passing the flag to Los Angeles which will host the next Summer Olympics ceremony in 2028.
On Instagram, musical director Benjamin Rauhala shared a clip of the performance, saying "It was a wild and amazing honor to arrange, orchestrate, and conduct our National Anthem for Ali Stroker." Rauhala also played the piano for the performance.
Stoker herself said the moment "felt like a dream, especially in the rain!" Take a look at a clip from her performance below!
About Ali Stroker
Stroker won her Tony Award for her role as ‘Ado Annie’ in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway in Deaf West’s acclaimed 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. She's a series regular in the Netflix series, "Echoes", and starred in the Lifetime holiday film, "Christmas Ever After". Ali recurred in the final season of Netflix's "Ozark" and is recurring in Hulu’s "Only Murders in the Building". She co-wrote the 2021 novel, The Chance to Fly, and she wrote the 2022 children's book, Ali and the Sea Stars. She played 'Lady Anne' in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III. She’s performed her one woman show all over the country, some of her favorites being the Kennedy Center, Town Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Her mission to improve the lives of others through the arts is captured in her motto: “Turning Your Limitations Into Your Opportunities.”
About Benjamin Rauhala
Benjamin Rauhala is the Music Supervisor, co-creator, and 'Fairy Godfairy' of Disney Princess - The Concert, touring over 100 cities in North America throughout 2022, and internationally in 2023. He helped conceive and arrange the opening and closing numbers of the 2022 Tony Awards for Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose. Rauhala has toured the world since 2014 as the music director for Jeremy Jordan, the Tony-nominated star of Broadway's Newsies and TV's 'Supergirl', and in 2020, Rauhala was named 'Best Musical Director' at the Broadway World Cabaret Awards.
Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy
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