A new musical made its world premiere in central New York. Syracuse Stage presented “How to Dance in Ohio” – a new musical adaptation of a documentary centering on seven autistic young adults preparing for their spring formal.
The show was supposed to continue through October 9, but a number of cases of COVID-19 among the cast and crew led to the cancellation of the rest of the performances. But the production team is looking ahead to the future of the show.
The cast includes seven autistic actors in principal roles.
Ava Rigelhaupt served as the autism spectrum disorder consultant for the production. Part of her job was to read the script and see if there were ways to make the autistic experience better whether it be changing dialogue or even bringing fidget toys into rehearsal.
Because the show is based on a documentary and the characters portrayed are real autistic people, Rigelhaupt said this helped make the performance authentic and avoid clichés.
“Sometimes when people are crafting an autistic character, they use a lot of tropes like, ‘doesn't make eye contact at all,’ ‘isn't interested in making friends at all,’ and that's not really true,” Rigelhaupt said. “In the show you meet seven autistic characters, young adults, and they're all very different.”
Another part of Rigelhaupt’s role was helping to develop a language guide – focusing on identity-first language. This means saying “autistic person” rather than “person with autism.”
“You can't just put your autism down at the end of the day,” Rigelhaupt said. “People introduce themselves as 'I'm a producer, an actor.' You don't say, 'I am a person of producing,' and that's because it's probably a really big part of who you are and it's really important.”
The incorporation of the language guide early on in the development of the production is something producer Sammy Lopez said he’ll take with him in developing future shows.
“I think the exciting part about developing this work is that it's inviting new pathways towards development and the way that we create new musicals,” Lopez said. “It's really allowing us to see opportunity in the way we produce. I think that's the general call to action for the industry. It's, ‘how do we invite new people into our theatrical community in a meaningful way?’”
Conor Tague is an autistic actor playing the role of “Tommy,” one of the seven autistic young adults preparing for the dance. He said the production incorporated traits from the actors into the characters they play, like him and his character being Marvel fans.
“They literally made the characters we play kind of like versions of our real selves,” Tague said. “Everyone in the cast can really relate to their characters.”
Tague said being a part of the show is helping him be more open about himself and he said hopes it could encourage others to do the same.
“Even though we, as performers, are people with autism, we can show them that we can do so much more than a lot of other people would assume or think,” Tague said. “We can do so many things. I really think that if they see that, if they relate with the characters, I think they can really understand us more.”
To help open performances to more audiences, Syracuse Stage has incorporated sensory-friendly shows. These performances may be modified by lowering sound levels or modifying black-outs in lighting. A cool-down room with a live-stream of the performance is also available if an audience member needs to step out at any point.
Additionally, “How to Dance in Ohio” provides a sensory trigger list noting things like loud sounds or light changes that could be triggering to some audience members.
Ben Holtzman, another producer, said the team is looking ahead to the future of the musical – aiming to bring it to Broadway.
“We have really high hopes for the show,” Holtzman said. “We have every intention of pushing it as far forward as we possibly can, and sharing this piece and this message, and the story and this team with as many audiences as we possibly can.”
