One-Woman Rock Musical; Footsteps of a Nobody, goes to the USA in 2010

After a typewriter was left in my room I began typing letter strings at age 9. As someone largely echolalic and still being tested for deafness, those letter strings came to set free my heart and mind as word lists began to form and from them came poetry by the age of 11-13. Writing poetry throughout my teens saved my sanity amidst life on the street and prices one pays to keep off it. By my 20s this broke into songs and then books (Nobody Nowhere, Somebody Somewhere and 7 others). At 40 I wrote my first screenplay, Nobody Nowhere, which was optioned by Hollywood producer, Beverly Nero and is now in active development. Six more screenplays later, I formed a band, The Aspinauts, and came to perform a quirky combination of song and spoken word throughout Melbourne and conjuring up impressions of Laurie Anderson and Liza Minelli along the way. Next came musicals, among which was Footsteps of a Nobody.

The excitement of the band when they flew up to regional Victoria was delightful. One of the members had never flown, another hadn't flown since he was 12. The show was well received in a great venue, Wodonga Civic Centre. But bringing the show overseas was still a pipedream.

Then I was buzzed at the news that I'll get to perform the show in the US in Jan 2010. With musical support from a wonderful accomplished pianist, David Moscoe, it looks like I'll be able to bring the show to Long Beach, Burbank and then I'll fly on to New Jersey to perform it with the support of a second pianist.

I wrote, produced and perform the show which uses vibrant song, characterisations, gestural signing, evocative spoken word to take the audience on a journey from my life as a seemingly deaf, psychotic, 'feral' child to life on the streets and ultimately on to my fight for equality among others.

REVIEWS OF MY WRITING:

She allows us to understand our own perceptions as never before.

NEW YORK TIMES

Deserves every superlative a reviewer can muster.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

By turns fascinating and harrowing. PEOPLE MAGAZINE

In Australia, the show has been musically supported by The Aspinauts. Though The Aspinauts won't be with me this time around, it will be a great chance to bring the show to hundreds of people who'd otherwise not get to see it.

The first performance will be on January 10th 2010 in Long Beach as part of a whole day conference hosted by Rita Rubin, the mother of Sue Rubin whose groundbreaking documentary, Autism Is A World, made it to the Oscars and broke down many myths about Facilitated and Augmented Communication used by people without functional verbal speech.

LONG BEACH, CA, USA - Saturday and Sunday January 9-10, 2010

TOPICS: "A Glimpse Into the Autistic Mind" - (People with autism describing their experiences & researchers explaining how & why these occur.)

WHERE: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center 2801 Atlanatic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806

TIMES: 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

ORGANISER: Greater Long Beach/ San Gabriel Valley Chapter Autism Society of America

EMAIL: brubin698@earthlink.net

or

ca-longbeach@autismsocietyofamerica.org

PHONE: 562 943-3335 or 1-877-AUTISM9

WEB:www.greaterlongbeach-asa.org

There will also be a performance of Footsteps of a Nobody in Burbank on Jan 12th at 7.30pm, at The Missing Piece Theatre managed by Colleen McGrann along with question time to follow. Then on the 13th, at 4pm, I'll perform another show I wrote and produced, a kid's rock-musical called Baloombawop.

You can see pics from Footsteps of a Nobody at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO4T7C43dSw

Donna Williams, Dip Ed, BA Hons.

Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.

Autism consultant and public speaker.

http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm

http://www.donnawilliams.net

http://www.aspinauts.com