Arts for Everyone

So, I explained why the volunteer experience was perfect, but let me tell you a little bit about why I chose to travel from Salem, MA to New York to Volunteer for this Sensory Friendly Performance of Wicked.



Let's go back in time a bit:
Right out of College I was fortunate to receive an internship position with a wonderful regional theatre. I was a Company and Production Management Intern and to this day I consider it one of the best Professional experiences of my career. During a performance of a family oriented event in a packed house, a child became very vocally responsive to the performance. The family was sitting in the front orchestra in the middle of the aisle. While the child was not in danger and the child was enjoying the performance, the other audience members and the cast were having difficulty. The audience was distracted. The cast felt that the responsive nature would cause them to possibly make a mistake on stage (of note: This was an incredibly technically advanced production. The cast and crew were also dealing with another situation that was causing adjustments to the show on a daily basis)


I remember this situation causing a lot of tension, not just for this performance but for future performances.

I'll be honest, I don't remember the outcome (I don't remember if the family returned for the second act). I just remember how much tension this caused among the entire company.

Over the years I have thought about this experience a lot. Many experiences have brought it front of mind. In my current job, I work with Box Office professionals and many of them are working to make more accessible environments for their audiences. It is from these people that I learned about organizations that present sensory friendly performances. Again, I thought of this family. 20 years ago nobody would have thought of sensory friendly performances, and here we are in 2018 creating these environments.

So, I certainly had this child in mind when I signed up to volunteer for this performance.

A couple of months ago I was trolling twitter, and of course keeping tabs on my favorite Come From Away Cast. They were all talking about the TDF performance that they had just experienced. They talked about how welcoming the audience was, how responsive they were, how wonderful the experience was. I was touched, I was moved. I thought of that child 18 years ago. In other pictures on twitter I saw people in volunteer T-shirts and thought "Hey, I want to do that." Thankfully the folks from TDF were super responsive and got right back to me with a form to fill out. when they announced sign ups for Wicked, I was THERE!

I arrived for training and was presented with my name badge and my T-shirt. The training was so perfect. They ran it so well.

After training and breakfast we headed over to the gershwin, I forgot how huge that theatre is. We packed u our backpacks with fidgets. Kooshballs and stress stars. These would be handed out to the guests as they arrived at the theatre. These fidgets are one way to help make the theatre experience more relaxed for people with sensory issues.

As guests arrived at the theatre, being able to give out these fidgets brought so much joy to so many faces. My name was also very popular among so many visitors (It's amazing how many people know someone names Elizabeth. also, apparently Joseph's girlfriend is named Elizabeth. I assured the group of girls that were so beautifully dressed up that I was not Joseph's girlfriend).



I'll admit that I had to put a lot of my own theatre etiquette standards aside during this performance. This was a relaxed performance. This was a day where if someone needed some food to keep them comfortable, they were able to bring food into the theatre. If someone needed an ipad to communicate, an ipad was allowed in the theatre. While this is normally something that would drive me crazy. Today, it is what made the day perfect. The message of the day was "relax".. If you know me, you might know that is not the easiest thing for me to do. The message of the day was "don't say no" but rather "Let me see what I can do". When parents ask "is this okay" It was wonderful to be able to say "Yes, it's totally fine today"

It was more than the experience that was perfect. Everything about this day was more than I expected. Wicked is a show that I have always enjoyed, but experiencing it with this audience was so much more. This audience was truly cheering for Elphaba. Elphaba, a girl who is different. A girl who is misunderstood, a girl who doesn't want to be different, a girl who can't always control her emotions.

I look forward to more experiences like this in my future. I am so thankful that TDF offers this opportunity not only for people with sensory issues, but for those of us that need to remember that Arts are truley for everyone.

Why this Volunteer experience was perfect

I consider myself to be a really good volunteer. I can take lead if you want me too, I can stand back and wait to be told what to do when needed as well (that one is harder, but I can and will). Sometimes being a volunteer can be frustrating. You feel like you are a burden to the staff, you don't feel respected, you are told to sit and wait and nothing actually happens. Yesterday I volunteered for the TDF Autism Friendly performance of Wicked. I'll tell you more about the actual day later, I want to tell you specifically why this Volunteer experience tops the charts for me.

Responsiveness leading up to the event.

I learned about volunteering for these performances on Twitter. The Come From Away cast was posting about how amazing the experience was. After following a few hashtags, I then saw pictures of people in volunteer T--shirts. I posted on Twitter "How can one Volunteer" I received a tweet within an hour and was signed up to be notified.

I got the email about Wicked, I signed up immediately.

I received a prompt reply that I was on the list.

I received emails with good information (addresses, instructions, phone numbers). The one time that I had a question (Would I be able to lock up my bag) I received a prompt reply back.

Why does this matter? Volunteers have questions, they deserve a response. You wouldn't ignore a coworker, don't ignore them.

Well Planned day
- I had specific directions to Ripley Greer, even a follow up email that day with an address reminder.
- I arrived and we started PROMPTLY at 10 am (I used to stage manage, I don't like things starting late)
- We quickly went around the room and everyone introduced ourselves.
- We were introduced to the staff.
- We heard from the staff and collaborators about the event (Why this performance was different, why we have to be aware of the Gershwin)
- We were told specifically what we would be doing, and what we would NOT be doing.

Volunteers don't deserve to have time wasted. Time at this event was VERY respected.

Proper training
- I received the exact amount of training needed. No more, no less. I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew who to reach out to for what. People wore color coded t-shirts designating their roles. We were also told what to say to guests as they arrived at the theatre (never no, only "Let me look into that for you")

Training is important to volunteers. It's just as important to teach us what we are supposed to do, and what we are not supposed to do. At this performance, we are there to assist. We want parents and children to feel comfortable. If a parent had said to me "Would you watch my child while I get something" My normal response is "OF COURSE". Having been specifically instructed not to, I knew that I would need to put my normal "let me help with everything" aside. That is was okay for me to say "I cannot help with this"

Proper identification
Name tags, color coded T-shirts. This made the day SO MUCH EASIER!!!!

recognition
We were always told exactly how much our help made the performance and the day better. I genuinely felt that. I never felt like I was getting a pat on the head. I genuinely felt that my presence was respected.

food
Okay, this will sound silly, but it is SO NOT!!! We were told there would be breakfast. I assumed bagels and danish. NOPE! ACTUAL breakfast. Toast, eggs, potatoes, etc. This is not frivilous. Volunteers need to be FED! especially on a day like this. We left Ripley Greer at 11 and we were ALL on our feet until the end of Wicked (Have you SEEN Wicked? FYI.. It's long). If they had served danishes and muffins we would have all been sugar crashing before defying gravity. Having an actual meal was so appreciated!


I obviously have more to say about this experience. It was amazing and I'm still trying to find words. I didn't want today to pass without this shout out to TDF for creating a wonderful volunteer experience. I am looking forward to the next one.



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If you want to sign up to be notified about purchasing tickets to these autism friendly performances, sign up here.