Behind the Curtain at Autism-Friendly Broadway Shows

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

PRX

Arts

4.6 • 675 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2019

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2015, an autistic boy disrupted a performance of The King & I on Broadway, reacting loudly to a scene where a slave is whipped. He and his mother were asked to leave the theater.

After the performance, one of the actors from the ensemble posted a reaction to the incident on Facebook. He wrote: “When did we as theater people, performers and audience members become so concerned with our own experience that we lose compassion for others?”

The Facebook post went viral.

What’s interesting is that Broadway was kind of responding the King & I incident even before it happened. Theater leaders were working to create a safe environment for families with autistic children — a place to enjoy art free of discrimination — with special autism-friendly performances at musicals and plays.

“It just takes away all the stress of taking her to a typical show where, you know, she might yell a little too loud or clap a little too loud or want to jump up and down and it may not be acceptable,” says Carmen Mendez, whose daughter is autistic. “Here she can be herself.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	from PRX.
0:06.8	This is Studio 316.
0:09.0	I'm Kurti Anderson.
0:13.8	In 2015, an autistic boy disrupted a performance on Broadway of The King and I.
0:22.7	He was reacting loudly to a scene in which an actor are playing, a slave, is whipped.
0:29.5	He and his mother were asked to leave the theater.
0:32.5	After the performance, one of the actors from the show posted a reaction to the incident on Facebook.
0:39.0	He wrote,
0:40.1	When did we as theater people, performers, and audience members
0:43.3	become so concerned with our own experience that we lose compassion for others?
0:48.8	Naturally, that Facebook post went viral.
0:52.3	What's interesting and kind of ironic is that Broadway at the time was
0:56.7	already working on incidents like that before that King and I episode took place, working to create
1:05.7	ways for parents with autistic children to bring them to the theater with special autism-friendly performances.
1:13.5	To see exactly how that works, we sent producer Jeff London to a recent performance of the Disney musical Frozen on Broadway.
1:23.2	Two days before families even see the show, consultants from the theater development fund, or TDF, meet with actors, ushers, and house managers to prepare them for a very special audience.
1:35.5	One of the consultants is a college student named Harry Smolin.
1:39.5	Hello, my name is Harry. I'm 20 years old and I have autism. I've been working with TDF since 2013.
1:46.6	You might be wondering how I got the greatest job in the world. An autism therapist who's
1:51.3	worked with me for 15 years recommended me because I love the theater and I know a lot about it,
1:56.0	especially about Disney. Since my first Broadway show in 2006, which was Disney's Beauty and the Beast,
2:02.2	I've seen 59 different Broadway shows, including Frozen. When I go to the theater, I like a seat
	...

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