Special needs girl kicked out of Beauty and the Beast for 'humming too loud'
NEW BEDFORD — When Samantha Torres brought her 5-year-old to the theater for the first time, she knew it would be a new experience. What Torres didn't expect was that it would be the child's first time being singled out for her disability.
"They did not ask me to leave; they told me I had to leave," said Torres, a New Bedford mom who says she was ejected from the Providence musical "Beauty and the Beast" because her daughter was "squealing and giggling and humming" along with the show.
Nadia Torres suffers from a rare chromosome abnormality that prevents her from speaking. On June 2, Torres took her two children and a nurse to the Disney musical at the Providence Performing Arts Center — only to go through one of the most trying experiences she's faced as a mother. Torres said she was told to leave because of the sounds her daughter makes when she's happy.
Marketing Director P.J. Prokop of the Providence Performing Arts Center said the theater acted properly in dealing with the Torres family. She said Torres wasn't asked to leave but was offered a chance to relocate — a claim Torres denies.
Audience members "were turning around; they were looking; they were also kind of gesturing," Prokop said.
"It is the theater's responsibility to try and ensure that everyone can hear and have a good time."
Torres insists she was never offered other seats. She said because the audio was very loud and they were seated in the rear of the theater, Nadia didn't seem to be bothering anybody — except the ushers.
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