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In 2017, composer Jacob Yandura was aimlessly scrolling on HBO, seeking a mindless television escape to relax and unwind before turning in for the night. That was when a documentary entitled “How To Dance In Ohio,” caught his eye.

“I came across the title and went ‘I’m from Ohio, what is this?’” Yandura said. “… I pressed play.”

It only took a few moments for Yandura to get hooked, he said. By the time the credits were rolling across the screen, he had called his playwright and lyricist Rebekah Greer to tell her to watch the documentary because he wanted it to be their next musical.

Greer and Yandura’s musical “How to Dance In Ohio” is opening at Syracuse Stage on Sept. 22 for its world premiere debut, featuring script and lyrics by Greer and music by Yandura. The company includes nine autistic actors to play the autistic characters, which the co-writers said is unprecedented in the history of modern commercial theater.

The musical follows seven young autistic adults who are a part of the same social skills therapy group in Columbus, Ohio. As a part of their therapy, the doctor who leads the program comes up with the idea to host a spring formal dance as a way to help the patients practice their skills and to offer them a ‘normal’ experience neurotypical teens have.

The show’s plot is centered around the leadup to the dance and the group’s coming-of-age journey of navigating relationships, accessibility and falling in love.

When it came time to cast the show, the creative team was adamant about pulling from a neurodivergent talent pool, so they only auditioned people with autism to play the roles of the autistic characters.

In fact, for director Sammi Cannold, casting neurotypical actors for the autistic roles was never even an option, and if it were, she wouldn’t have come on board to direct.

“Before we started our audition process, a lot of people said to us, ‘you might end up having to cast neurotypical actors in some of the autistic roles.’ I said, ‘well then we won’t do the show,’” Cannold said. “The point is we have to cast this authentically, the whole point of the show is to bolster representation and for the voices of autistic individuals to be heard.”

Cannold emphasized the importance of neurodivergent casting for the show, not only for the representation of the autistic community but to also right some of the theater industry’s wrongs that have persisted throughout history.

“When shows are about a certain group of people, for too long we have made art without the group of people that the art is about. It was essential for us to not do that,” Cannold said.

“How to Dance In Ohio” also strives to be inclusive beyond its casting. Greer and Yandura needed to delicately navigate the line of crafting a dramatically engaging and appealing piece, while also maintaining the nuanced narratives of the real-life people from the documentary, they said.

To do that, they combined the stories of some of the real people from the documentary and changed some of the names. Yandura was deliberate and intentional when crafting the score, creating chord progressions and melodies that became voices of their own — describing them as separate characters in and of themselves.

“I want to make sure that the orchestrations and the music are other characters within our fabric,” Yandura said. “It was very important to me that these instruments and music are other characters within our community that we’re building… each character has their own theme because they have their own journey.”

“How to Dance In Ohio” seeks not only to represent neurodivergent individuals but to redefine that representation, replacing the existing stereotypes and stigma people possess with one that is more accurate and authentic to the community, the creative team said. When Desmond Edwards was cast as Remy — one of the leading roles — right after graduating high school, he had the same goal.

The 18 year-old actor met Yandura through a musical theater intensive he attended just after his graduation. At the time, Edwards had no idea what the mystery project Yandura was working on was when he confided that he was autistic, or what the future had in store, he said. Yandura eventually invited Edwards to audition for “How to Dance In Ohio” and offer him his first professional acting job.

Edwards said he accepted the role with an immense sense of responsibility to the neurodivergent community to be a catalyst for change in the theater industry and to transform the public’s perception of what an autism diagnosis means.

“Autistic people don’t fit a certain mold. We’re not suffering. I feel like a lot of people think that autistic people are suffering, but that’s actually not the case,” Edwards said. “My character really shows that you don’t need to be defined by a diagnosis, and that’s something I’ve felt with my own diagnosis too.”

Cannold said she also hopes to redefine the perception of parents of neurodivergent children. Instead of parents being viewed as victims, or only being able to see their child’s diagnosis, she wants to reframe the narrative that neurodivergent people are not capable of the same achievements, or able to grow up with normal lives.

Though “How to Dance In Ohio” is a monumental step for the neurodivergent population, to consider it a complete representation of the vast nuances of all autistic people, wouldn’t be fair, because the community is so intricately unique, Edwards said.

“Autism isn’t a simple model, there’s so much to it. Instead of it being a spectrum of being less autistic and more autistic, it’s more of like a soundboard. Different sliders look like sensory issues, social issues. There’s infinite combinations,” Edwards said.

Each actor had their own subtle differences and quirks that they brought to the group, Yandura said, despite all having the same diagnosis. Throughout the rehearsal process, the team sought to accommodate the unique needs of each of the cast members to create a safe and inclusive environment for the actors to focus on their craft.

The entire creative team hopes this premiere will set a new precedent — not only for neurodivergent representation in the theater industry, but also to show that it is possible to cast autistic actors and foster a safe and inclusive work environment.

“How to Dance In Ohio” is cracking open the door for the future of neurodivergent actors and for the autistic community at large, Edwards said. The conversations the show will promote are only the beginning but hopefully, will chip away at the stigma and misunderstanding of what it means to be neurodivergent, he said.

“Autism is just something that I live with. It’s something as simple as the color of my skin or my sexuality or my gender,” Edwards said. “It’s not the end of the world, it doesn’t mean that I can’t do something. It just means that I simply think differently, which can be a beautiful thing.”

Published on September 20, 2022 at 11:00 pm