BroadwayWorld: To make live theatre accessible to all, Goodspeed Musicals will be offering a special Sensory-Friendly Performance for the 50th Anniversary production of Annie on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. The Tony-winning musical made its pre-Broadway premiere at The Goodspeed in 1976 and now makes its triumphant return to The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn.
4 comments:
It is really beautiful to me to see how theatre bends and adjusts to accommodate all people who wish to see the show. There was a time where disabilities or access needs were completely ignored and looked down upon as shameful. But now the theatre community has become so welcoming to it by accommodating to accessible needs or doing special performances that are sensory friendly with the volume and lights at a lower degree. Performances like this I think really speak to what theatre is at its core. Its a community that accepts all and will accommodate for any singular audience member that decides to come see a show. I know that continuously on specific dates even broadway performances do sensor friendly performances. Although these performances may be toned down in some areas it is still a lovely performance that any person has the right to see and enjoy.
I think sensory friendly performances are such a good addition to the theater industry. It is a great way to open up theater to those who may never be able to normally go and still showcase the wonderful stories told onstage. A few theaters used to do this a few times per run back in the Bay Area and I remember how it was such a new thing. While yes it is fun to go see something with fog, loud sounds and flashing lights, unfortunately that just can’t work for anyone. I even know a few people in the PCA who don’t attend certain shows due to how overstimulating it can be. Maybe in the future this is something that SoD could start thinking about so theater is accessible to all its students in the building. It would also be a good challenge to designers figuring out what elements to cut and for Stage Management to practice calling a different show.
I saw a post on social media last night that was talking about Annie at Godspeed and that they were going to offer a sensory friendly show. And I think it's really beautiful that more and more theater spaces and shows are offering these performances to make theater more accessible to anyone who wants to watch it. That being said, I'm kind of curious what a sensory-friendly performance looks like. I've heard in the past that they typically make the sound quieter, but I wonder what other measures are taken to make these productions more sensory-friendly. It seems like they're also selling these tickets at a discount, which is fantastic, so hopefully anyone who wants to see the show can. Annie is also such an iconic show that's been done so many times, so opening its doors again to the public and then making a show that anyone can see, regardless of their sensory sensitivity, is really great.
I really appreciate when theaters do a sensory friendly production because sometimes theater can be very inaccessible due to the amount of crazy effects and loudness. There have been a few productions where I wished that I could have just turned everything down by a little bit for my own comfort and enjoyment. I know that that does limit some artists/designers, but I think that having a sensory friendly show or two really helps open up the theater world to more people. I very much appreciate that they will also have a quiet area for people to go to to just take a quick break. I do think there are some shows that this will inhibit the story due to “holding back” the artists/designers, but I do also think there can be a lot learned from having to design in a lighter way but still keep the story.
Post a Comment