Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023
celebrating 120 years
N • County comptrollers
free
C • Freaky Friday
Fright Nights, maintains a haunted house all year round in preparation for their events in October. This weekend they wrap up spooky season.
S • Tucker vs. Wax
Incumbent Democrat Marty Masterpole and Republican Casey Jordan are competing for the seat of Onondaga County comptroller in this fall’s election. Page 3
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Sean Tucker and Marlowe Wax faced off as rival running backs as high schoolers in Baltimore before teaming up at Syracuse. Page 16
on campus
Hendricks hosts Interfaith Vigil By Faith Bolduc, Kendall Luther the daily orange
Last year, musical “How to Dance in Ohio” had its world premiere at Syracuse Stage, breaking barriers as nine neurodivergent actors played autistic characters for the first time. This December, it will open on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre. courtesy of curtis brown
‘Nothing about us without us’ ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ brings neurodivergent representation to Broadway after beginning at Syracuse Stage By Sophie Szydlik
digital managing editor
Conor Tague never saw himself in the characters onstage growing up. When there were attempts to incorporate neurodivergent characters in TV shows or movies, they always felt like poorly attempted caricatures and rarely, if ever, were they played by a neurodivergent actor. That was a reality he came to accept in the theater industry. Then, “How to Dance in Ohio” entered the conversation. “I was skeptical at first because of how autism was being represented. I decided I’m going with my gut, I’m going to try this out,” Tague said. “I eventually got a callback and was cast as Tommy … Then, over the summer, we got the call. I will never forget that day that we found out.” It was mid-June, and “How to Dance in Ohio” was going to Broadway. Tague would make his Broadway debut — and history — all at the same time. The musical, which had its world premiere at Syracuse Stage last fall, broke barriers by casting nine neurodivergent
actors to play neurodivergent characters for the first time in history, the creative team said. On Oct. 18, the cast and crew celebrated their official box office opening ahead of previews in November. Next, they’ll open on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in December.
For me, it’s really meaningful to try to make art that is also advocacy. That also has a mission to it. Sammi Cannold director
The musical, which is based on the 2015 HBO documentary of the same name, follows seven young neurodivergent adults who attend the same group therapy program. Throughout the show, the doctor leading the group plans a spring formal dance to further
their social skills therapy and give the teenagers the chance to have “normal” high school experiences. As the audience watches the young adults prepare for the dance, they also witness the coming-of-age story that accompanies it, complete with joy, heartbreak and humanity. Bob Hupp, the artistic director at Syracuse Stage, said he always had a feeling “How to Dance in Ohio” was something special, even in its earliest workshop days. As a regional commercial theater, bringing the production to life at Syracuse Stage made sense, Hupp said. The theater has experience bringing a play to Broadway with “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which started at Syracuse Stage in 2018 and made its Broadway debut in 2019. It’s also an urban location with much lower risk than a New York City theater. “Folks from (New York City) can come back and forth with ease,” Hupp said. “But we are far enough away from the city and under the radar enough see broadway page 10
Hendricks Chapel hosted an interfaith vigil for world peace on Wednesday evening. Members of the university and local religious communities gathered to promote peace in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war through spoken and sung prayer. Around 50 students, faculty and staff from Hendricks’ 25 religious and spiritual life groups met on the steps of the chapel to reflect. Rev. Brian Konkol, the dean of Hendricks and professor of practice at SU, opened and closed the vigil. Wednesday night’s vigil was the third on the steps of Hendricks related to the conflict. Syracuse Hillel and Chabad House Jewish Student Center hosted a vigil on Oct. 11 and SU’s Muslim Student Association hosted a “Prayers for Peace” vigil on Oct. 18. “In addition to the great gathering that we had two weeks ago, and then also last week, now we’re coming together as well as a multifaith chapel to express our own desire for peace and to model the type of world that we want to see rather than mirror the world that we do see,” Konkol said.
It’s about being present when there is a need, and that I think is very important today, for each one of us. Sanjay Mathur hindu chaplain for hendricks
Several of the speakers shared prayers from their respective religions, inviting the crowd to participate in or listen in a way that honored their own beliefs and traditions. Konkol also said organizing an interfaith vigil took collective action, but no religious groups were hesitant to take part. “This is what Hendricks Chapel has mapped out since 1930 about people expressing their particular roots and doing so with a generous reach,” Konkol said. “So it seemed very natural for us to not only gather ourselves but invite the campus community to gather along with us to pause, to pray, to reflect and to be together.” On Oct. 7, Hamas – a militant group currently governing the Gaza Strip – launched an attack in Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking approximately 150 people hostage, according to the New York Times. The following day, Israel declared war on Hamas. Since then, Israel has put the Gaza Strip under siege, cutting off electricity, see vigil page 6