CADA News and Information! |
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It was a love of musicals that got Amanda Bugenske into theatre (pictured above performing a monologue for CADA's Annual Fundraiser), and eventually, led her to CADA. At the suggestion of her SSA at Summit DD, she auditioned. "I was a little nervous at the time, but I didn't want to stay the whole time. So my mom stayed with me for some of the time."
When asked why she decided Theatre on the Spectrum was where she wanted to be, she said: "Just like how friendly everybody was and how fun the games were. And then I loved the program, and I got more comfortable each time I went. I found a real sense of community. Yeah. And then I found lots of things that I had in common with my other castmates. So that made me feel really good about myself. My interactions with my castmates definitely helped me be more confident in myself because I had a little bit of separation anxiety because I was home with my mom a lot. And I guess I was just used to that. But I knew I had to branch out of my comfort zone eventually. So I just had to ease into it a little bit at a time. And then each time I got comfortable, that's when I wanted to stay each day longer and longer."
"There was a time when I felt that I found the right place. When we started doing the play Clowning Around, and when we started doing things on stage in person, that's when I knew that I definitely found my place I definitely learned how to branch out of my comfort zone. I learned how to play a clown and do a few different things with my character like learning how to use my voice."
Amanda now lends her voice to advocate for all people with disabilities. She regularly performs with Act for Advocacy, CADA's interactive workshop that shows people how to use basic acting techniques to become a voice for inclusion and accessibility. She performed in a play with lines to learn for the first time last summer in our Virtual One-Act Play Festival. She recently auditioned for CADA's Next Stage Comedy Troupe and is enjoying preparations for their first performance!
We hope you will consider donating to CADA so that we can continue providing theatre training and performance opportunities for people of all abilities. In this season of giving, we have a variety of ways you can show your support from attending our annual murder mystery (December 11) to Giving Tuesday (November 30) on Facebook, to signing up for monthly donations at our Patreon page, or even simply writing a check and sending it to P.O. Box 2972, Akron, OH 44302.
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The Return of our Annual Murder Mystery
Fall Fundraiser!
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Joe Newsense is back with a vengeance... and another murder mystery!
In CADA's latest virtual performance, actors explore the shady world of grifting podcasters hungry for followers, questionable sponsors, and crazed fans -- all leading to a most unfortunate Death from Goat Paste! Tickets start at $10 and affordable sponsorships are available with various benefits.
Please consider becoming a sponsor -- your support helps us continue our programming and helps us provide scholarships for students who need them. All donations are tax-deductible!
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CADA Online Theatre Classes |
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Our Mission: We inspire the growth and empowerment of diverse individuals on the autism spectrum and those with cognitive/physical disabilities through theatre-based programming.
Our Vision: We imagine a world where our diverse community unites to celebrate and advocate for a more inclusive future so people of all abilities can choose to navigate the stage and the world effectively.
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Above: Improv for All is our basic building block for all CADA classes. This class is suitable for all ages and abilities and can be taken multiple times as improvisation is a skill that develops through repeated experience.
Below: Introduction to Voice Acting covers the essential skills of projection, articulation, intonation and characterization.
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Enroll Now for Winter Session! |
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Our Virtual Winter Classes for 2022 feature an expanded curriculum designed to encourage growth in theatre arts and in social and emotional development and interpersonal communication skills. Over the course of Winter and Spring sessions, we will be offering classes that build on prior skills as well as courses for beginners. We are committed to continuing our online programming so that youth and adults of all abilities, no matter where they are located, can join our classes and perform in our productions. And with virtual classes, no masks or social distancing are required!
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Along the Graveyard Path -- Act 1 Has BEGUN!
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Episode Two: The Stories are in the Bones
“The stories are in the bones, lasting stones,” Jeff Moyer’s song, The Graveyard is Telling Its Tale asserts the theme of our docudrama. “Hey hey hey, the stones are crying, hey hey hey the truth is flying …the graveyard is telling its tale.”
In this episode, company members visit Schneider Park to meet with archeologist Professor Timothy Matney of the University of Akron’s Department of Anthropology. He shows them the grassy grid marks revealing the long curving rows of the people buried there. We hear voices from the past, claiming to see bones emerging from the ground.
Transition to a scientific conference where the actors become scientists sharing research of numerous prehistoric gravesites from around the world that reveal individuals with severe disabilities who were nevertheless well cared for and survived for years, some well into adulthood. We will hold on to the hope for compassionate DNA within the human genome as we face very different attitudes toward disabled people in other societies as we explore the history of disability.
Along the Graveyard Path (A History of Disability) is a docudrama in serial format on CADA’s YouTube channel. Act One consists of eight weekly episodes that will be released every Monday through the end of December. Act Two begins January 3 with the same weekly release schedule through the end of March 2022.
The company has spent the past year adapting the script into an audio docudrama on the history of disability. From prehistoric times to the present, Theatre on the Spectrum presents a timeline of shifting attitudes from rejection to empathy to inclusion.
This production was inspired by “The Poor Lost Souls of Akron,” an Akron Bean Journal history article by Mark Pride on the pauper’s graveyard lying beneath Schneider Park. Once the site of Akron’s Poor House, Schneider Park is the final resting place for many of its disabled citizens. The opening episode features Price’s article presented as a newsreel. It was filmed in collaboration with Josh Gippen for “The Forgotten Dead,” his documentary on Schneider Park. Theatre on the Spectrum actors were filmed re-enacting scenes from the history of the Poor House. Carolyn Behrman and Timothy Matney of the University of Akron’s Department of Anthropology provided assistance in sharing historical records and information about Schneider Park.
Along the Graveyard Path is a 2019 Knight Foundation Akron Arts Challenge award winner. This production was scheduled to be performed live on stage in the summer of 2020 with a cast of 18 actors and musicians. When the pandemic hit, CADA closed their studio in March of 2020 and moved entirely online. The company began the transition from stage play to audio drama. The scenes were recorded in Zoom during the height of the lockdown. There was much to learn about acting in Zoom. CADA provided a variety of supports and technology for our actors with autism and disabilities, while developing a digital media presence.
Featuring the music of disability rights activist and bard, Jeff Moyer, Along the Graveyard Path was directed by Wendy Duke, with Laura Valendza as assistant director. Cast members include Amanda Bugenske, Brian Cogar, Erica Crank, Jordan Euell, Sean Giannetti, Jake Dietz, Samir Hammoud, Scott Hudson, Sid Kranz, Dre’ia McCoy, Brandon Meeker, Joseph Moran, Ruben Ryan, Nicholas Santiago, Daniel Seemann, Cyrus Shariari, Laura Stitt, JT “Styles” Toomer, and Jude Yovichin.
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Meet CADA's Next Stage Comedy Troupe on Friday, November 26 at 7:30 PM |
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The Next Stage Comedy Troupe began rehearsals at the beginning of October. They are meeting twice a week to explore what types and styles of comedy will work best for this particular group. The public is invited to meet the troupe and watch them take on the challenge of long-form improvisation as they perform The Onion.
What is the Onion, you might ask? Think of peeling the layers in an onion and imagine that each layer is a new scene. The first scene comprises only one actor, the second layer adds an actor, the third layer adds another and so on. When the final layer is played, the scenes are reversed and actors leave each layer until the original solo actor is left to conclude The Onion.
November's show will be free admission for the first 100 to enter our zoom room, but we always appreciate tips left in our Zoom tip jar! Follow the QR code below to enter our zoom theatre.
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Reelabilities Film Festival at ASCPL |
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Don’t miss out! The final FREE event of the 4th annual Reelabilities Film Festival: Cleveland @ Akron is set to take place on Saturday, November 13 at 10:30am at the Akron-Summit County Public Library on Main Street in downtown Akron. The theme Akron Makes! is sure to deliver on fun with hands-on opportunities and demonstrations in the Library’s Makerspace throughout the day.
· Hearts of Glass* (68 min) *Mature language and subject matter. After the film, the auditorium doors open to Akron Makes, a minds-on, hands-on celebration of the innovative and creative in Summit County.
· Special Screenings in the Children’s Library at 11 am and 1 pm: Macropolis (8 min)
Fun, family-friendly design activities follow this heart-warming animated short film!
· The Sensory Bus will be visiting the Library at Main Street throughout the event.
· For questions or more information, please contact the Pop Culture & AV division at 330.643.9015 or cadiv@akronlibrary.org.
Reelabilities Film Festival is an annual event that promotes awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with different abilities through film and community.
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CADA Had a Great Time with the Autism Society! |
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Thank you for spending time with us at the first annual Halloween in the Park with Portage Park District. It was so nice to see the fun costumes and it was a tornado-free day! For those of you who were unable to attend, you were missed and we hope to see you next year!
If you attended, please take a minute to answer a few short questions via the SURVEY HERE so that the Autism Society of Great Akron can continue to provide quality programs.
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NEW One-on-One Opportunities! |
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Thanks to all our corporate and individual sponsors who have contributed to our continuing success! |
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Tessa Gaffney
Teresa McCormish Hurray
Janet Juliano
Danny Paparella
Jordan Bryce James
Rose Langstaff
Shannon Costa Kotradi
Saul Caplan
Jennifer Bozeka
Jeannette Loretitsch
Robert Keith
Josh Gippin
Shelly York
Lysa Mulloy
Shannon Uphold
Rachel Scalish
Samantha Honaker
Brittany Jackson
Lysa Mulloy
Sandra McPherson
Jamie Filisko
Georgianne Hudson Smith
Gregory Rees
Jeff Moyer
Mary Kate & Fred Donnelly
Dominic Leone
Kathy Moran
Rick Woods
Pamela Warrick
Diana Wilson
Carolyn Johnston
Amelia Polzella
Animita Saha
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Gonzalo Hidalgo
Marie Curry & Brant Lee
Logan Shamberger
Karen Magner
Colleen Foy
JL Dorrian
Nancy Archey
Alice Altwies
Mark Greer
Dane Leasure
DeAndre Hairston-Karim
Jamie Gellner
Andrea Klein
Dean Coutris
Laura Beahn McFalls
Michael Gatto
Steve Karangis
Heather Cross
Jen Snider
Chris Fornadel
Bill Smith
Maria Krenz Smith
Stephen Dolan
James Slowiak
Larry Marks
Tina Lattimer
Paige Wilson
Eve McPherson
Michelle Herter
George & Jamie Coutris
Annie Gustley
Pooja Rajpal
Emily Durway
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Lauren Mathis
Howard Parr
Laura Yeager
Mark Wilt
Paige Giannetti
Russ Henley
Bhawna Sudhir
Mac Love
Kristin Kranz
Philip G Duke
Elsie Hammoud
Debra Bugenske
Andrew Shahriari
Margo Snider
Bev Brown
Laura Dolan
Kristin & Steven Kranz
Stephen Benjamin
Debbie & Steve Bugenske
John Ballard
Nancy & Leon Kranz
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CADA Appreciates Your Support! |
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.5% of your online purchases at Amazon will be donated to the Center for Applied Drama and Autism. All you have to do is click on the link below that takes you directly to CADA's Smile.Amazon site. Smile.Amazon.com has all the same products and services as Amazon's regular page -- the difference is you will be giving a percentage of your purchase to CADA. It's an easy way to support us! |
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Help CADA earn 5% cash back from ACME Markets! Buy store brand products between now and Christmas, save your receipts, and send them to P.O. Box 2972, Akron OH 44309 or call 866-844-8327 to arrange a pick up. We appreciate your support!
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Center for Applied Drama & Autism | (866) 844 - 8327 |
info@centerforada.org | centerforada.org
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Theatre on the Spectrum is CADA's performance wing. For further information, please visit us at centerforada.org
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