The night before Villains Night opened its ticketed run, Aspire Performing Co. performed the whole show for a sensory-friendly house. House lights stayed up. The sound came down. The doors stayed open the entire time, so anyone who needed a break could take one and come back without missing a thing.
It is the same show. All 118 Young Artists across our seven Aspire groups, all twenty-two numbers, nothing trimmed. The only thing that changes is the room, and the room is what decides whether a family gets to come at all.
Our free sensory-friendly performances started because families kept telling us the same thing: they wanted to come, and there was nowhere they could. One parent put it better than we have managed to:
With over half of our children being autistic, it felt impossible to attend a show or performance of any kind, at any venue. Now we’ve been attending Encore sensory performances for over a year and all 5 of our children have come to expect a good time, and to feel safe. Felt-safety for our family is truly priceless.
That phrase, felt-safety, is the whole brief. Not tolerated. Not accommodated. Safe enough to relax and enjoy it.
Then there is the part we did not plan and would never give up. When the show ended, the company came down off the stage in full costume and stayed in the house. Villains signing programs. Pirates shaking hands. A Sanderson sister crouching down to say hello at eye level.
Some of our guests had been waiting all night for exactly this. Some needed a minute first, and that was fine too, because nobody was being moved along.
Our Young Artists learn something in that half hour that no rehearsal teaches. They learn to read a room, to slow down, to notice who needs space and who wants a high five. They learn that the audience is not an abstraction out past the lights. It is specific people, and some of them have been waiting a long time for a seat at a show.
Every sensory-friendly performance we do is free, and every one needs a reservation so we know how to set the room up for the people in it.
The next one is Peter Pan Jr. on November 19, and then A Christmas Carol on December 1. You can reserve free seats and read what to expect before you come.
Thank you to everyone who filled that house. We will keep the lights up for you.
Adam and the Encore Team