On May 21st, for one night only Donna Williams and The Aspinauts will perform the rock musical Footsteps of a Nobody 7-8pm, followed by an interactive question-answer forum with the audience, Walking In Autistic Shoes, from 8-8.30pm at the Wendouree Centre For Performing Arts. Proudly sponsored by Ballarat Autism Network as part of World Autism Awareness Month. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s my upcoming events so far…. Read the rest of this entry »
On May 21st, for one night only Donna Williams and The Aspinauts will perform the rock musical Footsteps of a Nobody 7-8pm, followed by an interactive question-answer forum with the audience, Walking In Autistic Shoes, from 8-8.30pm at the Wendouree Centre For Performing Arts. Proudly sponsored by Ballarat Autism Network as part of World Autism Awareness Month. With question time to follow the show this is an opportunity for an amazing, informative and inspiring night out. Read the rest of this entry »
The Aspinauts are known for their mixture of theatre, spoken word and catchy, evocative songs with meaning. Having played small independent theatres, we like to connect with the audience, create an intimate atmosphere. So the concept of house concerts really appealed. So what is a house concert? Read the rest of this entry »
In childhood I was called Dolly Burger by my mother’s side, Miss Polly by my father. I’d rather have been Miss Polly even if I was sick, sick, sick too often than be anyone’s doll. I didn’t like doll’s, those staring, plastic almost demonic representations of a one-size-fits all normality or perfection. I never identified with being Doll-y or anyone’s doll. When my mother told me I was hers, her doll, I felt the foundations of my feminist rejection of conformist expectations of ‘what a girl should be’. I liked the ballet dress with its fluttering leafy skirt, its sheeny pink sating and mother of pearl beading catching rainbows in the lights. But the doll thing… Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve always considered Donna and The Aspinauts to be diversity friendly but what does it mean to be a disability friendly band? Is it about having people with disabilities in the band? Is it about making it easy for those with disabilities to attend your gigs and shows? Is it about having a natural sense of equality with and respect for those with disabilities? Is it about having a strong presence in the wider disability community? Read the rest of this entry »
The rock musical, Footsteps of a Nobody, next goes to Doncaster Playhouse in Doncaster on Saturday 20th Jan. We’re also planning on a show in April to support international Autism Month. For information about the show visit www.aspinauts.com .
Donna Williams, Dip Ed, BA Hons.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm
http://www.donnawilliams.net
http://www.aspinauts.com
Musically supported by The Aspinauts Donna Williams performs How To Be A Boy and Mirror from the rock musical Footsteps of a Nobody. Filmed by Lindsay at The Guild Theatre in Oct 09, the show was well received and travels next to the USA in Jan 2010 before returning to Australia for a show in Geelong.
Info on upcoming shows can be found at http://www.aspinauts.com Read the rest of this entry »
We have a small community show of our kids rock musical, Baloombawop this Saturday, 7th November 6pm at Jika Jika Community Hall, cnr Plant and Union Streets, in Northcote here in Melbourne, Australia. Then a big leap with the next public performance of the show at the Missing Piece Theatre, Burbank, California (4:00 PM @ The Missing Piece Theatre 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA, 91505, Burbank, California 91505) in January 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
We had an awesome Halloween night performing FOOTSTEPS OF A NOBODY at The Guild Theatre last night. It was a good turnout, great ambiance and my heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed so much to the show – fellow producer, Harry Paternoster, of Walking Into Bars who co-produced the show with Aspinauts Players, Paul Spears who is both The Aspinauts drummer and technical manager doing the audio, arranging the stage, driving the trolley, Stuart Moore and Chris Samuel who are absolute gems and attended the shop and were the most wonderful ushers for the night, Anthony Julian who really rose to the occasion on the keyboards and provided us the seamless yet theatrical transitions from prose to song throughout the show, all the members of the band on the night for their musical and personal professionalism and being so damned fab to work with, the venues technition and supervisor who made it a great venue to work from, and to the wonderful audience who got so into the show, Rosemary Crossley, Chris Borthwick and Anne Mc Donald for the fab after show Halloween supper back in Brunswick. THANK YOU.
Next, we take the show to Geelong West’s Woodbin Theatre on Jan 23rd 2010.
All future Aspinauts shows can be found at http://www.aspinauts.com
Warmly,
Donna Williams, Dip Ed, BA Hons.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm
http://www.donnawilliams.net
http://www.aspinauts.com
Donna Williams is an Australian born adult with autism who was assessed as psychotic at the age of 2 in 1965, labelled disturbed in the 1970s and diagnosed as autistic in her 20s in 1991.
She acquired functional speech in late childhood and went on to become a qualified teacher with an honors degree in Sociology and a degree in Linguistics. She is the author of two international bestselling autobiographies and has 10 published books including 4 text books widely used in autism education and two books of poetry and prose.
As a screenwriter, she wrote the screenplay to “Nobody Nowhere“, the first book in her 4 book autobiographical series. That screenplay is currently under option to become a Hollywood film. She is an professional artist, singer-songwriter and published poet as well as a world renowned public speaker on autism now living with her husband in Australia. In her presentations she draws not only on her own experiences but on international experience as a professional autism consultant since 1996.
Donna’s is a speaker in demand around the world due to her unique perspective and ability to share her feelings and experiences on a very personal level. More information about her and her life’s work can be found on her website at http://www.donnawilliams.net .