On The Road With TDF

One of the most emotional experiences I’ve had while working at TDF happened right after our first autism-friendly performance of The Lion King. After the show, all of the TDF staffers were wearing identifying name tags. While standing in the lobby, as the audience was leaving the Minskoff Theatre, I was overwhelmed as parent after parent came up to me and my colleagues, many in tears, thanking us for producing this event.

A few days later, I spoke to a colleague from the New York Times who covered the show for an Artsbeat blog post, and he shared the same feelings I had—compassion, powerlessness, empathy. What that first performance proved, as well as subsequent performances of The Lion King and Mary Poppins, is that there is an audience of people with autism and their families who are hungry to experience something many of us take quite for granted.

Armed with my handy iphone 4s (yes, I know I’m not at a 5 yet), I created this slide show to give you a flavor of that great day.