Autism-Friendly Grinch Performance
A Special Performance of
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
for Children with Autism
The Old Globe offered an autism-friendly performance of the holiday classic Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 10:30 a.m. Following in the footsteps of successful autism-friendly performances of The Lion King and Mary Poppins on Broadway, The Grinch was performed in a welcoming and supportive environment for children on the autism spectrum and their families. Slight adjustments were made to the production including fewer loud noises and flashing lights that may have been challenging for some audience members.
In addition to the adjustments made to the show, additional features helped make the experience safer and more enjoyable for children with autism and other sensitivity issues. To better prepare children for the performance, a pre-show visit to the Globe was offered to familiarize children with Balboa Park and the Old Globe Theatre. An online social story was also available for parents to view and print at home that outlined in words and pictures the experience that families would undergo during their trip to see Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The lobby of the theatre served as a quiet area for children that needed to leave their seat during the show. On-site volunteers were on hand to assist families as needed as they arrived at the Old Globe Theatre and throughout the performance.
Read The Grinch Social Story below or click here to download as a PDF.
For a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the autism-friendly performance,
please click here.
Tickets are on sale now!
For more information, visit the Grinch production page by clicking here.
Special thanks to Theatre Development Fund's Autism Theatre Initiative for serving as an advisor,
www.tdf.org/autism.
Going to The Old Globe
I am going to see a musical at The Old Globe. A musical is a live play with singing, dancing and music played live by musicians.
Here are some things I will see when I go to see the show:
Crossing the street to the theatre.
The Grinch tree on the plaza.
The entrance to the theatre.
The theatre lobby.
The seats and the stage. The curtain is bright red.
Someone will welcome us with a speech from the stage before the show.
The lights change color and get brighter or darker during different parts of the show.
This is the Grinch with noisy Whos. The Whos are characters in the play. The Grinch doesn't like noise.
The Grinch gets tied up by Whos.
The Whos sing a song while shopping for presents.
The Who children are sleeping while their family gets ready for Christmas morning.
These are pretend houses with puppets. The puppets sing Christmas songs.
The Grinch surprises the audience.
The Whos love to sing about Christmas.
In the end, even The Grinch loves Christmas.
