Sensory Friendly Performances
The Vanishing Elephant - SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE
Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 2P
This incredible story of resilience and friendship, inspired by true events, comes to life through large-scale puppetry, illusion, and magic.
Jenny, a young elephant, is born in the 1900s in Bengal, India and full of curiosity about the world around her. But one day her life changes dramatically when she is captured and separated from her family. She must learn the ways of humans, which is sometimes cruel and hard, but her friendship with a young boy called Opu carries her through this time.
When Jenny is sold to a circus in America, she must make the strange journey across the sea to a new world filled with many adventures, but she never stops thinking of home. She eventually meets the great Harry Houdini who plans to make her disappear from the stage of the Hippodrome, New York. Meanwhile, far away in India, her old friend Opu is now an old man and he recognizes his dear friend in a newspaper story. Despite ill health, he makes the same difficult journey to New York that Jenny once made. There on the stage, they meet again one last time, and together they are part of an amazing and moving magical vanishing.
This large-scale production premiered in NYC on October 14 2023, presented by the New Victory, and was declared a Critic's Pick by the New York Times - "This alluring spectacle..., which aims to dazzle audiences 8 and older, makes powerful statements about the rights of both animals and human beings."
Vanishing Elephant - Sensory Friendly Cheat Sheet
Vanishing Elephant - Know Before You Go
Vanishing Elephant - Social Narrative
Created By Brandi Dumas and John Fitzhenry
In partnership with The Autism Project, PPAC’s NEW Sensory-Friendly performances create a guest experience that is welcoming, judgement free, and inclusive of guests with a wide range of sensory, learning and physical differences. These performances are perfect for young children, and guests who might benefit from a more relaxed theatrical environment. Sensory-Friendly accommodations include: lowered house lights, adjusted sound levels, and a designated quiet area within the theatre lobby. These sensory-friendly performances are being created to foster a welcoming setting for individuals with autism, special needs and their families.