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Product Description ------------------- AUTISM: THE MUSICAL follows the extraordinary and innovative acting coach Elaine Hall, five autistic children, and their parents as they improbably, heroically a full-length original stage production. Through trial and error, tears and laughter, these incredible families learn to communicate their feelings in song and performance, finding solace and joy in the act of creating. A veritable feast of astounding breakthroughs and heartbreaking hardship, this spellbinding film offers a full-throated celebration of kids living with this increasingly prevalent disorder. Director Tricia Regan vividly captures the individual personalities and problems of each child, from precocious Henry who talks a mile-a-minute about dinosaurs to Neal, a sensitive and articulate boy who nonetheless struggles to speak at all. The parents, too, are fascinating studies in unconditional love, especially Elaine, the mastermind behind the musical and mother of Neal. A consciousness-raising and empathetic portrait of children and their families living with autism, AUTISM: THE MUSICAL celebrates the spark of humanity in each of us. Called 'Moving, dramatic, therapeutic and unburdened by reliance on talking heads'; (Variety), this film will change the way you look at autism Review ------ One of the most candid, down-to-earth, ally inspirational documentaries you ll ever see...an unsentimental, simply photographed chronicle of the autism epidemic that doesn't try to show too much or conceal the rough places. Amazing...extraordinary...it will have audiences cheering long before the final act. --The Boston Globe Outlining the bewildering challenges faced by autistic kids and their parents, this heartwarming documentary is full of sweetness and hope, and constitutes mandatory viewing for those who aren't familiar with the ups and downs of raising autistic children. --Salon.com Can children with autism (now one in every 150) come together to write, rehearse, and perform a musical? It s one mother's dream, and this deeply moving documentary follows it's heartwarming (and -breaking) journey to reality. A- --Entertainment Weekly