Rye Neck resident Ella Grann spends Monday afternoons belting out show tunes and pop music with developmentally disabled children and adults of all ages.
She has seen firsthand the power of music to facilitate communication, create bonds, and bring joy to those for whom everyday life is often a struggle.
As a volunteer with Abilis, a Greenwich-based organization serving those with special needs, Grann has been inspired by their enthusiasm and couldn’t help but imagine how fantastic it would be if her Abilis friends could attend, tolerate, and enjoy one of her school plays.
So, she set out to make that happen.
On Sunday, March 9, at Rye Neck High School, students will perform a “sensory-friendly” performance of the musical “Grease.” Spearheaded by Grann and fellow seniors Anais Brown and Carys McGrory, and junior Jian Kawai, the performance will incorporate less intense lighting and quieter sound, and will move along more swiftly than the school’s other showings on Friday and Saturday.
The production aims to attract neurodivergent children and adults, residents of local assisted living facilities, and pre-schoolers. Anyone who may find it difficult to sit through the bright lights, loud volume, and typical length of a traditional play will have an opportunity to see a different kind of production — a softer, more dimly-lit one.
Grann, who plays the leading role of Sandy in the production, said her longtime friends, classmates, and fellow thespians — Brown, (who plays the role of Patty), McGrory (Jan), and Kawai (Teen Angel and Miss Lynch) — were eager to jump on board, as were the school’s administration and theater department.
“Our theater teacher and director, Cyndi Feinman, and principal, Melinda Folchetti, have been extremely supportive of this performance and have both served as incredible inspirations and mentors for us,” Grann said. “We are so grateful for their help in making this happen.”
The teachers, staff, and administrators at Rye Neck High were wowed by the undertaking. “Ella suggested it early on in the season and it just seemed such an inspiring idea,” said Folchetti.
“Kids of all abilities should be able to appreciate and experience theater like neurotypical audiences,” added Feinman. “I am so proud of our cast for embracing this idea.”
While Broadway offers autism-friendly performances throughout the year, tickets sell out quickly and often just traveling to the city can prove very difficult or impossible for a family with a sensory-challenged child. It’s rare for a high school to offer a performance of this kind — and offer it free of charge.
“We think it’s a gift not only for our audience, but for all the students at Rye Neck,” said Grann. “A public high school (in Westchester) can be a pretty homogenous place, and this is an opportunity to meet and to engage with children and adults who experience the world very differently.”
The pioneering crew left no stone unturned in prepping and reaching out to diverse groups from the local community.
Grann contacted residential homes and programs for people with developmental disabilities, including Abilis, SPARC Inc., and the Shrub Oak International School.
Brown focused on nursing homes and assisted living facilities: Rye’s Osborn and Enclave, and The Ambassador in Scarsdale.
Kawai reached out to local preschools, also translating the play’s flyer into different languages to ensure it is accessible to international families.
McGrory worked with the stage crew to tone down lighting and sound.
The team also enlisted the help of fellow cast members and students to create a warm, inviting, accessible theater for attendees. Students have volunteered to greet and help theatergoers find their seats and the bathrooms, as well as a specially designed ‘sensory space’ in case they need a quiet place to sit and regroup.
The students’ enthusiasm for every detail of the production is rooted in their passion for the arts and desire to help others, and also their personal experiences.
Brown, who volunteered at The Osborn as part of a project researching connections between mental health and creativity, believes the arts and people spending time together in a creative pursuit promotes conversation, connection, and happiness. At The Osborn, Brown taught crochet while leading intergenerational discussions where participants shared life stories.
“I was amazed at how it brought people together,” she said. One 91-year-old woman, she said, didn’t speak English but would smile and clap after she had completed each simple stitch. “She would point out the stitches she had done successfully to the other participants, and they would smile too.”
McGrory recalled how much the arts and specifically music meant to her grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s.
“He would forget a lot of things, but he never forgot songs,” she said. “He used to help my friends and me prep for auditions. At our community shows he would always sing along. He loved music and sang with the a cappella group The Chimes at Georgetown (University). It was something he always loved — and that we shared.”
Grann echoed McGrory’s insights on the power of music to facilitate connection. Ten years ago, on a visit to her grandfather, who had recently moved to a memory care facility in Manhattan, she and her brother were nervous about how they would interact. What would she say, how could she connect?
“As we walked in, my brother saw a piano in the foyer and started to play a song we always sang together, ‘Let it Be,’ by The Beatles,” she recalled. Immediately her grandfather joined them — as did some of the other residents.
“He had not forgotten the words,” she said, “and we sang together.”
