March 11, 2008 9:16 AM
Loudoun County: Very Special Arts - "The Old Homeplace"
For the past five years, my sons have participated in Very Special Arts - a unique collaboration of differently-abled individuals producing plays for Loudoun County. VSA has earned a great reputation in the community and the performances are usually sold out.
It's a tribute to the goodness of the people of Loudoun how well-received this program has been.
This year has been the very best of all! Alice Powers - the original founder of VSA - wrote a heartwarming original script based on her childhood memories of growing up in Purcellville.
This original new musical by the Virginia Special Arts looks at four generations of a typical farm family in the Loudoun Valley. The show begins with a narrator celebrating her 100th birthday. She looks back on her life as a young girl, growing up at the turn of the 20th century. As the show progresses, the audience travels through time with her, her children, grandchildren, and her great grandchildren into the present day 21st century celebration.
And in a stroke of absolute genius and grace, they hired Meredith Bean McMath - an accomplished local director (Aurora Theater and various historical films). Meredith had never worked in this sort of venue before, but I was absolutely amazed at how instinctively she responded to each individual cast member - and the whole collective - with authenticity, dignity and grace.
She is a real hero!!! And her belief in her cast brought out the best in them this year.
The wonderful news this year was also that the Barn - our new performing arts center which is a converted historic barn - has now officially opened at Franklin Park with the first performances of The Old Homeplace last weekend. There will be more this weekend, so y'all need to come see it.
Three of my four sons with Down syndrome are in it. Daniel, I finally realized after struggling with some behavior problems, didn't want to be in the play and was trying the only way he knew how to show me. Duh. Sorry I was slow on the uptake, Daniel :)
Jonny and Justin have very prominent parts. They are both born entertainers. Jesse has a couple quiet walk-ons, but since Jesse also has autism, this was a push for him - one he wanted - and I can see the wonderful effects of the experience generalizing throughout other areas of his life.
There are some very dear-to-me people in the cast and I have enjoyed over the years getting to know people with disabilities who are in their 20s, 30s, and beyond. It's been so interesting and liberating to spend time with them. They have given me inspiration for the future of my sons.
And there was a dear mom there this year - Pam - who has a little baby girl with Down syndrome - they were both in the play :) I admire how their family has immediately identified with the community of VSA. More inspiration!
Other kudos to Jeff Stern, Manager of the Franklin Park arts operation and Ben Schoenberger, VSA program director, who is quoted in the Washington Post LoudounExtra today: "We are blessed to have a community that truly believes in what we're doing."
And the community is blessed by you, Ben! And by you Meredith!
From the same WaPo article:
Despite the long hours and hard work, McMath said it was time and effort well-spent, and she already is looking forward to next year's production."I get hugs out of the blue; you get refrigerator art," she said. "It is the most gratifying directing experience I've ever had."
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"The Old Homeplace: A Loudoun Valley Tale" will be performed again Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, call 540-338-7973.
Posted in Disabilities, Down syndrome, Family, Loudoun County | Permalink
Comments
Barbara -
It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your family through VSA. My family has gained so much from this experience - - compassion, understanding, and further realism that every single person has a GOD-given purpose! Thanks for continuing to be such a SUPER-MOM example!
=-) Pam
Posted by: Pam | March 13, 2008 12:41 AM
I don't get it. Last week you wrote a very nasty item about the costume lady for the VSA show and this week you write a glowing article about everyone else involved with the show. You have no idea how much the costume lady sacrifices to design and build costumes for this show. She sacrifices spending time with your family to help your children have the experience you claim to treasure so much. You have no idea how much she loves working for VSA. You have no idea how much your cruel and thoughtless attack on her in last week's blog hurt her. Your self centered blog posting of last week has completely ruined her experience with VSA. You really need to think about what you are writing before you post it.
Posted by: puzzled | March 15, 2008 10:42 AM
I thought I was pretty clear about the specific problem with the costume lady - who refused to acknowledge my son as a human being and considered her costume more important than his human dignity.
I explained this to her clearly and she refused to acknowledge or correct her mistake.
We all make mistakes. But we all have the freedom to learn from them and grow. The costume lady could have simply acknowledged my son, looked him in the eyes and explained that he wasn't supposed to wear a hat.
You are concerned about her feelings - what about my son's? Does that concern you at all? The whole point of VSA is to encourage and support people with disabilities. I think how we treat them personally and interact with them is much more important than the production values. The lavishness of the sets and costumes show we care, but personal interaction and allowing ourselves to be changed through our experience in interacting with the differently-abled - that's what's most important.
Thanks for giving me a chance to further explain this.
Posted by: barbara | March 15, 2008 5:34 PM
