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That D\u2019Angelo landed in a Broadway production did not come as a surprise to her professors at Montclair\u2019s\u00a0John J. Cali School of Music, from\u00a0which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education.<\/p>\n
\u201cNicole is the kind of musician who raises the level of any ensemble because of a highly developed musical awareness and the ability<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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to adapt to any musical situation or environment,\u201d says the Cali School\u2019s Director of University Bands Thomas McCauley. \u201cNicole, even as an undergraduate student, was a highly motivated, multi-faceted musician. Nicole is, of course, a wonderful pianist but also played fantastic clarinet and bass clarinet in our Montclair Wind Symphony.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cali School Coordinator of Music Education Marissa Silverman says she was lucky to have D\u2019Angelo not just as a student but also in a chamber ensemble. \u201cAs a teacher, I have never met anyone who has such a love for her learning and is equally passionate about music and the betterment of others,\u201d says Silverman. \u201cOn many occasions, I discussed Nicole\u2019s interests in reaching special needs students, particularly those with autism. At that point in time, Nicole wanted to someday open up a music school for special needs students. This admirable, caring and socially responsible goal paved the way for Nicole\u2019s work on\u00a0How to Dance in Ohio<\/i>. Full circle, indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Montclair was the only university to which D\u2019Angelo applied. Her parents are alumni, among Montclair\u2019s first computer science graduates in the 1980s, and it was also the only university with a bass clarinet concentration. It was her instrument of choice then because she doubted her piano-playing abilities but after auditioning, she was encouraged to focus on piano.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted to do music therapy so I could work with autistic people like myself,\u201d D\u2019Angelo says, adding she had to decide whether to \u201cuse music education therapeutically or use music therapy educationally. I decided what I really wanted to do was teach music and have therapeutic effects in that way, so I switched to music education and piano because I realized I was good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating from Montclair in 2017, D\u2019Angelo taught piano, teaching more than 50 students per week at one point. She also auditioned to join symphonies but soon realized that wasn\u2019t her calling.<\/p>\n She recalled her love for musical theater while at Montclair but \u201cI didn\u2019t even consider that could be a career path,\u201d thinking \u201cthis is way too fun to be a job,\u201d she says. D\u2019Angelo decided to pursue acting and voice lessons instead. She joined EPIC Players, a Brooklyn-based \u201cneuro- inclusive theater company,\u201d and has worked in various capacities in more than 150 theater productions, primarily as a music director or pit musician. She won several starring roles, including Audrey in the off-off-Broadway production of\u00a0Little Shop of Horrors<\/i>\u00a0and Tilly in a virtual production of\u00a0She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat was about five or six years ago, and I have not looked back since,\u201d D\u2019Angelo says. \u201cI did a whole bunch of work with them [EPIC Players]. I also got to hone my advocacy skills.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, in 2021, D\u2019Angelo launched an Etsy shop for handmade Broadway costumes for teddy bears three years ago. She\u2019s made and sold mini-Hamilton bears, Elizabeth Schuyler Bear (\u201cEliza Schuybear\u201d) and Baby Jenna Bear inspired by Sara Bareilles\u2019\u00a0Waitress.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n As for her autism, D\u2019Angelo says she self-diagnosed after reading\u00a0Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger\u2019s<\/i>\u00a0by John Elder Robison. Everything, from her sensory issues to her disdain for shoelaces and shoes, suddenly made sense. She says she tried to get an autism diagnosis from doctors and therapists but was dismissed as \u201ctoo social,\u201d having \u201ctoo many friends\u201d or \u201ctoo smart or gifted\u201d to be autistic.<\/p>\n \u201cI never really made it through the formal diagnosis process because nobody took me seriously,\u201d she says. \u201cAutism causes sensory issues. I\u2019ve always had problems with loud noises. I\u2019ve had problems with fabrics. Everything just clicked when I read about that, and so I knew that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo says her mother recently reminded her that she would recoil during ultrasound appointments. \u201cEven in utero, I didn\u2019t like to be touched,\u201d she says laughing.<\/p>\n Her advocacy work was born from that experience. \u201cIt sparked for me an interest in putting myself out there and being like, no, this is also what autism can look like. You have an idea of what it can be but also this is what it can be, and what I know to be true is valid.\u201d<\/p>\n A former blogger, D\u2019Angelo is very involved in social media advocacy. \u201cI\u2019m putting my ideas out there, so people can see them.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo says she\u2019ll continue to advocate and educate. \u201cThe thing that has been pervasive and that I\u2019m still continuing to have to educate people about is that for us, it\u2019s such an integral part of our identity,\u201d she says. \u201cSo much of the narrative around autism makes it seem as if autism is inherently a bad thing. It\u2019s just a thing. It\u2019s a thing, and it\u2019s challenging, but I wouldn\u2019t see the world the same way if I wasn\u2019t autistic.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no place where autism ends and Nicole begins.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/01\/398716498_18396368356018488_2451046377024392432_n.jpg.3.2x.generic.jpg\")
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