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SITE TOOLS
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Autism: The Musical,
2007, 93 minutes, Not Rated
By Marona Lowe
Elaine
Hall has a number of titles that follow her name – educator, writer,
mother, consultant, performer, director and acting coach. Arguably,
the most distinctive one is that of mother. Hall’s journey to mommy
led her to Russia where she and her then-husband adopted an infant.
Subsequently, her son Neal was diagnosed as autistic. MORE >>>
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To treat
her child, Elaine employed arts therapy to good measure. Drawing from
her son’s positive results, Elaine established the not-for-profit
Miracle Project, a musical theater program aimed at enriching the lives
of special needs children through the transformative power of the arts. |
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Located in Los Angeles, Elaine’s Miracle Project
attracted a large group of children eager to participate in a
theatrical production that harnessed the unique talents and
experiences of its performers.
Autism: The Musical, a documentary directed by
Tricia Regan, takes audiences inside the Miracle Project for a peek
into the development of the Miracle play. More importantly, the film
provides an in-depth look at its featured actors - Adam, Neal, Lexi,
Henry, Wyatt. Through following the children and their parents as
they prepare for opening night and partake in the activities of
daily living, the documentary presents the challenges and joys of
raising an autistic child.
The film uses home videos and family photographs
to supplement revealing personal interviews and unscripted scenes
that capture the drama of life on and off stage. Although the title
suggests that the film is about the show, the purpose of this
excellent documentary is to tell the engrossing stories of the
actors and their families. Of all the performers, the child that
commands the most attention with his impassioned discussions of his
wish for a best friend and his hope for a bully-free life is Wyatt.
When Wyatt’s parents come face-to-face with a financial roadblock to
fighting for their child’s educational rights, the manner in which
wealth affects health care is made patently clear. While this is a
direct indication of affluence determining treatment options, the
film also includes subtle examples of such through its presentation
of the individualized care received by children of wealthy or
influential parents.
Child services aside, one tie that binds the
featured families is the strain that raising a special needs child
has on relationships. In the film, marital breakdown and discord are
discussed openly as are breakthroughs that reunite fractured
families and keep curative hopes alive.
Similar to other programming where a constantly
running camera captures the melodrama of the moment; Autism’s
instance of such crackles with the intensity that one has come to
expect from sports parents on overdrive and features an
ultra-assertive parent becoming unhinged to preserve her child’s
solo time under the theater’s bright lights. M
March 2008
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