When "Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr." is performed Jan. 13-15 at East Peoria Community High School, it will be an achievement in more than one sense for both the cast of 84 and The Penguin Project that sponsors them, now in its eighth year.
The project aims to help children with developmental disabilities do something that other kids take for granted: participate in the arts.
The project represents a marriage of the talents and passions of founder Dr. Andrew Morgan.
Besides being a community theater veteran who has appeared in productions at Corn Stock and elsewhere, he is a developmental pediatrician and the chief of the section of child development at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.
"One of the things that's really pushed this program and the way we've expanded is recognizing that children with disabilities have very few opportunities to do the things that their typically developing peers do naturally," Morgan said.
"That is what this program has done more than anything else. It has given the children a safe environment to be able to explore their abilities rather than their disabilities - and to show the talents that they have. To display what they can do, not what they can't do."
Employing a "peer mentor" system, The Penguin Project matches young artists with a nondisabled peer. Like the young artists, peers must be anywhere from 10 to 21 years old. Mentors and young artists work side by side through the rehearsal process and also onstage. The not-for-profit organization also relies on so-called "Penguin Parents," who help their children learn lines and songs and create sets and costumes.
Participating in the show each year is always uplifting, said Marie Nelson, a 21-year-old student at Bradley University.
Nelson, who has Asperger's syndrome and is studying early childhood development, has been onstage many times and has even served as a mentor.
"Just interacting with the kids - when you walk in, even if you've had a horrible day - the kids, their faces just light up, they're so happy to see you," Nelson said. "Even if they've had a bad day themselves, they cheer you up. It feels like you're in a family.
"What's amazing about these kids is that they come in scared even to say their names in front of people. And then they'll go onstage and perform and they will hear an audience clap for them the first time. One little boy, I remember, he turned to his mom and said, 'Mom, they're clapping for me! They're clapping for me!' This is a little kid with Down syndrome who had never heard applause for himself. He thought it was the most amazing thing."
Bill Coombs and his wife, Gina, who live in East Peoria, have two children in the program: Olivia, 17, and Elizabeth, 14. Olivia has autism and is one of the young artists; Elizabeth is a mentor.
Coombs said the program has changed Olivia from a shy person to something of a leader for the younger children.
Also, by providing an instant network, he said the project has helped his family feel less isolated.
"We all deal with some of the same things - we can all help," Coombs said. "Raising a handicapped child is a challenge. The challenge is to keep them involved in anything. We reach out to other families that are new."
'Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr.'
What: A special kids' edition of the famous musical about young Millie Dillmount, who moves to New York in 1922 to make a new life for herself. The show is produced by The Penguin Project, which aims to involve kids with developmental disabilities in the performing arts. The Penguin Project partners with Easter Seals and Eastlight Theater.
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 13 and 14 and 2 p.m. Jan. 15.
Tickets: General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students, and are available online at: www.eastlighttheatre.com.
There is an additional fee of $1 per ticket for ordering tickets online. Tickets also are available through the Eastlight Theatre box office. For more information, call Eastlight Theatre at 699-7469.
# Reported By GARY PANETTA | Journal Star | Jan 08, 2012
# http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x1266412491/Penguin-Project-lets-developmentally-disabled-children-experience-theater
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