COLUMBUS, Ohio — The reviews are off the charts. The newest musical to take over New York City is “How to Dance in Ohio,” based on the award-winning HBO documentary of the same name.
“It just feels like it’s resonating, “said Jacob Yandura, the musical’s composer. “That’s what I really care about… I’m reaching audiences.”
The musical centers around the story of seven autistic young adults preparing for their first formal spring dance. The show's lead actors are also autistic — a move that is being applauded by the neurodivergent population.
“There's the saying of if you've met one autistic person, you've only met one autistic person, and now you're meeting seven autistic people,” Yandura said of the casting. He also said each character has their own theme song within the musical.
Yandura is a graduate of Dulin Coffman High School and credits teachers in his college years for supporting his dream of making it on Broadway.
But the storyline of "How to Dance in Ohio" is much more personal to Yandura. His sister Maria was diagnosed with autism the same year he decided to create the musical.
“My sister was not speaking for about the first eight or nine years of her life,” Yandura recalled.
“The way she wanted to communicate with me was through music and she would always be sitting next to me at the piano, helping me write songs. So, she has always been a part of the fabric from the beginning,” he added.
Yandura said it was surreal having his mom and sister with him in the audience on opening night.
“[My sister] said to me 'Now the world can feel what it's like to be me',” he said. “That's a huge, huge statement."
Yandura also credited his songwriting partner Rebekah Greer Melocik who is from Chardon Ohio. The two have been writing music together for more than a decade.
This week the show dropped a new cast album. Producers also announced the final curtain call for How to Dance in Ohio will be on Feb. 11.