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Autism day after day

by Kathy

In my last blog post, I was wondering whether and how to tell my son Adam about his unique special needs. Who would’ve guessed a rock opera could help get the conversation started?

Here’s the story: last Thursday, the rock opera Day After Day came to town, and when I asked Adam if he wanted to go with me to see it, he said yes.

Day After Day is a rock opera about the daily struggles the families of children with autism face. The show was originally performed in 2004, and Parents of Autistic Children (POAC) helped fund a new, expanded production this year.

It wasn’t until after Adam agreed to go to the show with me that he asked what it was about. When I told him, I slipped in the “yaw know, you have some of those issues, too.” He didn’t ask any more questions.

During the performance, I could tell that Adam was intrigued by the representation of the kids with autism in the musical. Of course, he was also interested in the number of people at the theatre — and the light effects!

Some highlights:

  • Just Call Me Dad is a number about one child’s father looking for a typical father-son relationship. 
  • My Mom features one of “the other three kids” who longs for her mother. The mother is so overwhelmed with the needs of her son that she neglects her daughters’ emotional needs.

You can hear musical selections yourself at the Day After Day MySpace page.

I thought the show was great — high energy tunes, meaningful lyrics and young people keenly portraying the struggles and triumphs of too many families today.


 

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  1. Linda Says:

    March 6th, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    Hi Kathy! Just wanted to say how much it means to those of us involved w/ “Day After Day” to hear about the impact it can have. My younger daughter, Alicia, has autism, and my older daughter, Kayla, plays Amy’s mom in the show.

    Thank you for sharing your experience on this site. The cast and creators have worked so hard on this important, powerful piece and it is great to know it is making a difference. 🙂

  2. Debbie Weiner Says:

    March 5th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

    Just to let everyone know that “Day After Day” will have an encore performance Sat. March 8th at the Veterans Memorial Middle School in Brick, NJ For tickets call 732-888-1000 or go to http://www.poac.net for more dates of the show. Thank you Kathy for such a wonderful review. I’m glad your son enjoyed it!