Jump to: Los Angeles Times HIP Magazine American Library Association/Booklist School Library Journal The Movie Mom Website Video Librarian Dallas Morning News Compilation of Reviews of Playing from the Heart Los Angeles Times Globalstage scores high marks again with Playing from the Heart, a fact-based world premiere production about hearing-impaired professional solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie ... creatively filmed in London ... "[Playing from the Heart and Island of Dr. Moreau] ... are prize finds, the best to date .... Hip Magazine: For Hard of Hearing Kids and Their Pals Excellent. This is a video of a play about Evelyn Glennie when she was a young girl. She wanted more than anything to be a musician. In real life she grew up to become a famous percussionist. She gives concerts to audiences all over the world. Playing from the Heart tells the story of Evelyn's childhood up to the time when she becomes a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London ... an inspiring story of perseverance. American Library Association/ Booklist BEST VIDEOS 1999 EDITORS' CHOICE STARRED * REVIEW. The stage production features talented, emphatic acting, from Glennie's nurturing family and musical mentors to patronizing social service bureaucrats. The dramatization is imaginatively staged and beautifully scripted. Deftly transforming the theatrical performance to the video format, excellent, varied camera work alternates between audience-perspective long shots, intimate close-ups, and dissolves that blend viewpoints and gracefully telescope action ... Movingly portraying a tenacious individual who refused to be defined by her disability, this video offers superb viewing for families and for students ... Barclay's Theatre Awards: The stage production of Playing from the Heart was one of three nominees for BEST SHOW FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1999 School Library Journal It is heartening to learn about someone who refuses to allow a disability to keep her from success ... Playing From the Heart is a textbook example of how to act and how to stage a play. The staging is at once simple and sophisticated ... After the performance, the real Evelyn Glennie is interviewed about her career, her deafness, and her determination to succeed as a professional musician. At one point in the play, the young girl keeps insisting, "I am not disabled. I am not disabled." That message of defiant persistence in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds is one that today's youth need to hear ... an extraordinary example of live theater at its best ... a remarkable production. The Movie Mom Website: Nell Minnow (She also mentions the video in Child Magazine) This theatrical production of the real-life story of deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie is a real treasure for family viewing... worthwhile both for the exposure to a subtler, more challenging style of storytelling and for the considerable merits of this extraordinary story. One of the best of this first-class series... Topics worth discussing with kids include the obstacle of other people's expectations, the importance of supporting the dreams of those we love, and the importance of music. Video Librarian *** The Polka actors provide uniformly excellent performances, the script presents Evelyn's story with clarity and sensitivity, and the staging and cinematography are both inventive and imaginative. Glennie's story is both fascinating and inspiring. Highly recommended. Dallas Morning News The San Francisco-based Globalstage, which is quickly making a name for itself as a video distributor of high quality theatrical performances around the world, offers a fascinating look at [Evelyn Glennie's] life as written by Charles Wray for the Polka Children's Theatre in Wimbledon... The show plays more like a monologue with supporting voices; it simmers and inspires ... [Gives this video three stars, and only one to the others in her column.] Order at: 1 (888) 324-5623 www.globalstage.net