[4] A group of five students living with disabilities (Kevin Ahl, Richard Britton, Kathleen Traylor, Gregg Vigil, and Teri Westerman Wagner) from the Boettcher School in Denver, Colorado founded Phamaly in 1989.
[3] At the turn of the new year, Steve Wilson stepped into the art company as the new artistic director, implementing a new direction for PTC while maintaining inclusivity.
Along with Wilson's appointment, PTC's second production of Guys and Dolls (2004) received the Westword Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Lucy Roucis).
[11] To make the audition process more accessible for neurodivergent people, Phamaly Theatre Company provides detailed information about what to expect at their facilities.
[12] Further Phamaly Theatre's The Wiz makes the stage more accessible by allowing the actor to explore creative liberty with their disability such as using it as a metaphor, instead of labeling it as distracting for the audience.
2012 saw another original comedy series titled disLabled marked the company's debut appearance in the city of Boulder, Colorado, and recurred for two years in 2013 and 2014.
Utilizing the unpredictability and adaptability of the disabled experience became their advantage, PTC created accessible and inclusive online programming for artists and audiences.
[12] Two members of Phamaly – Regan Linton and Jason Dorwart – have gone on to earn, respectively, a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting and a PhD in Theatre and Drama, both through the University of California, San Diego.
[19] Linton went on to become the first wheelchair user to be cast as a company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and currently serves as Phamaly's Artistic Director.
[21] Long-time company member Jeremy Palmer earned his MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California and went on to win the Tribeca Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize in 2018.
[5] For example, during the audition process, PTC provides actors with materials in braille and American Sign Language upon request, viewing events to explore the space, and neutral readers to assist in cold readings.
For example, Steve Wilson's decision to incorporate a blind chorus line during the song "Mr. Cladwell," acquired a new meaning to an "ensemble" as performers helped one another to enter, exit, and change positions.
[23] As actors rolled over the traps, they were lowered to be in partial view of the audience to "empty their colostomy bag," thereby commenting on the daily realities and privacy concerns of those with physical disabilities.