Sharing The Arts & Ridgewood High School Present Musical Production of Charlie and The Chocola...( BergenCounty Special Needs Children &...),Health

BergenCounty Special Needs Children & High School Student Volunteers Collaborate in Musical Production

RIDGEWOOD N.J. and HAWTHORNE, N.J., Dec. 15/PRNewswire/ -- Sharing The Arts, a Hawthorne, NJ based non-profit performing arts organization and conservatory bringing together individuals with mild to moderate developmental delays and community student volunteers, is pleased to announce that its members, all children and teens with special needs are performing in its production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" together with Ridgewood High School student volunteers on Tuesday, December 16th at Ridgewood High School's Little Theater in Ridgewood, New Jersey. An open dress rehearsal begins at 5 pm and one show begins at 7 pm. Tickets are still available to the 5 pm open dress rehearsal.

The 12 children and teens performing in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" have a range of special needs including Aspergers, profound deafness, autism and the chromosome abnormalities 18q-, 2 q- and Triple x Syndrome. One of the children - who plays Augustus Gloop - is completely non-verbal, yet signs to communicate. The children and teens hail from Northern New Jersey, Rockland County and New York City.

More than 15 high school volunteers are also involved with the production, taking on a variety of acting and backstage roles. These high school students dedicated an hour each Tuesday for 10 weeks to work with the children and the teens with the special needs after school at Ridgewood High School.

Liz Grossman, Sharing the Arts Founder and Creative Director noted, "The process of bringing all of these students together and presenting such a musical on stage has been amazing and the impact has been enormous for all! The stories that emerge are worth sharing far and wide."

Karen Sheehy Sharing the Arts Founder and Program & Volunteer Coordinato
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