Autism: The Musical
March 17, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
I heard about this from Cinema Blend.
It is documentary about eleven autistic children who are preparing for a live musical production (see IMDB and also this Wikipedia entry). It is by Tricia Regan and will be released in 2007.
As Cinema Blend notes,
With a title like that, how can you possibly keep a leash on your curiosity? I know I can’t.
Could it be this Miracle Project? They mention making a documentary.
http://www.themiracleproject.org/index.html
It osunds like it might be—can’t open the link, will keep trying!
Kristina,
This documentary is currently showing at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY. Full schedule for Autism The Musical can be searched via this link:
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/2007/filmguide/search.php.
The official website of the documentary is : http://www.autismthemusical.com/
The program notes on the Tribeca web page mentions the following:
“Although the statistic is alarming–one in 150 children in the U.S. is now diagnosed with autism–this documentary is steeped in a sense of optimism. Filmed over the course of one year, it follows five autistic children in Los Angeles as they write and rehearse their own full-length musical, tossing aside all stereotypes in the process”
I also found an interesting interview with Tricia Regan, the director of this documentary on http://www.thereeler.com/director_spotlight/tricia_regan.php
She said in the interview that she wanted to make a movie that “would introduce these autistic kids to the world in such a way that the world would value them, understand them. It would demystify autism. And, in return, we would find a place in our world for autistic kids”
This documentary seems to be interesting!
Thanks, Peony! do you think you’ll be able to see it? I also read this article in Variety. My husband Jim has his office in Manhattan and is going to try to make one of the showings.
thank you for your comments. Yes, Autism The Musical is about The Miracle Project.
AUTISM: THE MUSICAL will be playing at the Newport Film Festival in Rhode Island on June 8th and 9th.