SM: So how did the idea of The Miracle Project develop from this?
Hall: When Neal started going back to school, it was time for me to go back to work and I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I literally got on my knees and prayed to God, and the answer came: Teach acting to kids with special needs. We put on a full-blown production with singing, dancing and acting with kids who have Down syndrome, ADHD, Tourette’s, autism, Asperger’s, cerebral palsy…We had a little boy in a wheelchair, who was being pushed around on stage the whole time. [But] this year, this little boy—he has cerebral palsy—chooses not to be in his wheelchair and he scoots himself across the stage and loves to perform! I didn’t know if [The Miracle Project] was going to work or not, but it [has] worked beautifully!

SM: You’ve coached child actors for film and theater your whole life. How is this experience different?
Hall: It’s positively the same and positively different. When the kids come in, they’re all over the map. They’re hiding under the tables, they’re spinning in circles and it’s like, “How is this ever going to be a show?” But once we start getting in the theater, and they get the groove of what’s happening, I just start treating them like I do any other players. I give [directions] and forget that these kids are special. We just give them the support they need to be successful. And [sometimes] it’s easier than with typical kids because, for one thing, a lot of children with autism have phenomenal memories. So once they learn the script, I better not change it because they know their lines! They know where they’re supposed to be on stage: You teach it to them once and it’d better be the same way the next time. I even have special needs stage mothers who are afraid their kids didn’t get a big enough part!