As flip or gaudy as the title may sound Autism: The Musical is no joke. Nor is it a musical. The play within a film is actually an upbeat documentary that follows acting coach, educator, and Miracle Project founder Elaine Hall as she takes five autistic children (her own son included) under her wing to produce a musical in Los Angeles.
Autism Director Tricia Regan followed the troupe for six months, capturing the struggles and triumphs of their family lives and observing how the musical production gave the performers a comfort zone in which they could explore their creative sides.
Though autism is an umbrella term used to classify an astonishing array of symptoms, the personalities, one-of-a-kind quirks, and temperaments of each of the five children is fully explored in the documentary. Henry’s encyclopedic knowledge of all things dinosaurs is an impressive one. Looking like a typical teen,14-year-old Lexi repeats what she hears and sings like a songbird. Wyatt is sensitive, articulate, and appears to be close to some level of understanding that his mind works differently than those of other children. Adam is a 9-year-old virtuoso who has taught himself to play the mouth harp and cello. In one of the film’s most gripping scenes, Hall’s son Neal, who doesn’t speak and is severely autistic, focuses long enough to make use of a keyboard voice box.
Mounting a stage production could have been an overwhelming undertaking for a group of kids who have a hard time sitting still, dealing with chaos, communicating, and making eye contact. And the subjects of Autism: The Musical have as many hurdles as they do victories. Yet through it all, the point that the arts can transform kids who are in their own world and re-unite them with others comes through loud and clear. In fact, the kids do connect—with each other, with their troupe leader, and with themselves. And “Autism” shows them doing it without so much as one over-sentimentalized moment.
The on-stage action is only one part of the film. Candid one-on-one interviews with the kids’ parents makes apparent the struggle and reward of bringing up an autistic child. Home movies are also shown, chronicling the kids’ journeys from seemingly average infants to erratically-behaved toddlers. And the film doesn’t leave audiences to guess about the way autism can affect marriages, cause financial distress, confuse educators, and ultimately lead to a very lonely existence. But it also gives equal credence to how love blooms, mothers refuse to give up, and kids reveal hidden talents.
Even with its serious subject matter, Autism: The Musical is a joyous film. Culminating with opening night, as a whole it’s a celebration of the troupe’s spirit and determination. It’s an inspirational counter to today’s bleak statistics that autism was diagnosed in one in 10,000 children in 1980 but today affects one in about 150 American children.
“With diagnosed cases of the disease rapidly escalating in America throughout the last decade, this documentary’s exploration of alternative methods of treatment seems opportune, not to mention downright joyous at times,” Variety Magazine wrote.
And on the film’s Web site appears perhaps the best way to sum up the documentary “Both on and off stage, ’Autism the Musical‘ is a call-to-arms, bringing attention to a modern-day epidemic, all the while celebrating the way the human spirit can overcome any challenge.”
Autism: The Musical premiers March 25, with a DVD release to follow. The documentary is a Bunim-Murray production in association with In Effect Films. It is produced by Perrin Chiles, Tricia Regan, and Sasha Alpert; executive producers are Jonathan Murray, Janet Grillo, David S. Glynn, Kristen Stills, and Joey Carson. Direction is by Tricia Regan. With: Elaine Hall, Adam, Henry, Lexi, Neal, Wyatt. Running time is 94 minutes.
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