THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED.
Directed by Rosie Arbittier ’20 and in collaboration with Best Buddies Princeton and Best Buddies NJ, the Best Buddies Collaborative Project features a neurodiverse performing ensemble and crew of community members with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Performances of Bloom: The Musical were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spirit of “the show must go on,” Rosie Arbittier organized the cast of performers in a presentation through Zoom of the musical’s title song, “Bloom,” in quarantine.
Rosie Arbittier is a senior (Class of 2020) at Princeton University majoring in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, concentrating in Social Services, and minoring in Values & Public Life and Music Theater.
Since being turned away from sitting at the neuro-diverse students’ lunch table in fifth grade because their teacher said that they were “nothing like me,” Rosie has known that two seemingly distinct populations must work together to create change. Because, after all, who is really like anyone? In her successive middle and high school years, Rosie came to know just how possible it is to form relationships with those who might initially seem different from you – and she is now lucky enough to call several individuals who identify with a disability some of her closest friends. Unfortunately, she also was exposed to the vast inequalities imposed on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the arts sphere: her friends couldn’t sing with her in choir and couldn’t perform with her onstage in high school musicals.
This is exactly what the Best Buddies Collaborative Project seeks to remedy: this idea of inclusion, the fundamental belief that all of us are human and deserve to be treated as such.
“Senior Arbittier focuses her two theses on disability issues” | Princeton.edu, June 4, 2020
10 AM – 3 PM
Godfrey Kerr Theater Studio, Lewis Arts complex at Princeton University
122 Alexander Street, Princeton, NJ
The project is seeking cast and crew members with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. All ages above 18, all gender identities, all racial and ethnic identities, and all abilities welcome. No prior experience is required for any roles, both onstage and off.
Auditions for these neurodiverse roles will be held a relaxed and fun environment. Lunch will be provided – please detail any food restrictions. Please be prepared to tell us a story about you or joke upon request! Otherwise, no preparation is needed. Both cast and crew members will be determined during this audition day.
The show will be performed over the weekend of May 1, 2020. Rehearsals begin Sunday, November 3, 2019, for a few hours every Sunday afternoon at the Lewis Arts complex of Princeton University.
To learn more about Best Buddies International and the mission we support, please visit https://www.bestbuddies.org/. Furthermore, to learn about accessibility at the Lewis Arts Complex at Princeton, please visit https://arts.princeton.edu/about/contact/accessibility/.
To RSVP for auditions or if you have any further questions, please contact Rose Arbittier by calling (717) 819-0654 or emailing rosea@princeton.edu.