A role for everyone: TWO presents '101 Dalmatians KIDS' with The Penguin Project

The stage inside the auditorium of Daviess County High School was lit up in lights Sunday afternoon as the cast of artists and mentors with Theatre Workshop of Owensboro’s second production in conjunction with The Penguin Project took to the spotlight for the final performance of Disney’s “101 Dalmatians KIDS.”

Based on the 1961 animated film, the show details the story of London pet owners, Roger and Anita, living with their Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, that are devoted to raising their puppies until Anita’s former classmate, Cruella de Vil, makes a plan to steal the puppies for her new fur coat, according to a synopsis from publishing company Music Theatre International.

The Penguin Project, a nationwide program initiative, was established in 2004 and founded by Dr. Andrew Morgan in an effort to have a group of children perform a modified version of a well-known Broadway musical, with all the roles to be filled by young artists with developmental disabilities such as down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, visual and hearing impairments and other neurological disorders.

Productions also feature the artists being joined by peer mentors — children the same age without disabilities — who work with the former during rehearsals and the live performances.

The Penguin Project made its debut in Owensboro with TWO via a production of “Annie Jr.” in January 2023, which was in the works for a few years before being put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Upon TWO’s premiere, it became the second Penguin Project partnership in the state following Playhouse in the Park in Murray.

Jody Hulsey, a board member of the Kiwanis Club of Owensboro — the sponsoring organization for the production for the second year — and a former TWO board member, first found out about The Penguin Project after attending the Kiwanis International Convention in June 2018, where he said the “timing was perfect” as Morgan ended up winning the Kiwanis’ World Service Medal at the event.

“That July, I started my first term on the Theatre Workshop of Owensboro board,” he said, “and so we were at our board development seminar where we all (got) together and (got) to learn about each other and learn about the mission.

“… It was mentioned there that our vision is to instill a love of theatre by creating a role for everyone,” Hulsey said. “That was the lightbulb moment of, ‘Hey, this thing exists out there where we can create roles for children with special needs.’ ”

While Hulsey feels Owensboro “has a robust network for people with children with special needs and children with special needs that made (it) feel like it was possible to bring (The Penguin Project) to life” locally, he found that this initiative brings different groups into one space.

“I was able to form a committee from a lot of folks involved in different organizations like Puzzle Pieces, Wendell Foster, GRADSA (Green River Area Down Syndrome Association) and lots of different programs in town,” he said, “but what we found though was that oftentimes many of those organizations serve certain children — rightfully so; with Penguin Project, part of what theatre does is bring diverse groups of people together to achieve a goal (collectively).”

Jacob Hein, co-director of the production and a TWO board member, returned for his second year as part of The Penguin Project. He believed “101 Dalmatians KIDS” would be a solid successor to “Annie Jr.,” which was staged at the RiverPark Center.

“Our creative team … had all been bouncing around different ideas about shows we would love to do; and one of the things we wanted to do was make sure that we picked a show that … hadn’t been done in our area,” Hein said. “We came to ‘101 Dalmatians’ because it’s a very recognizable name; … and at the time we were choosing it, they had just finished up the whole alternate universe with Cruella and that great movie with Emma Thompson and Emma Stone, and we thought, ‘That would be fun. … It would be such a fun story to explore.’ ”

Additionally, Hein found selecting the title was ideal in terms of having a wealth of parts available for those wanting to participate.

“... It’s a show that offers roles for a huge variety of people because every part of (the) show is important, and it’s a very flexible cast where … we’re not set in, ‘You have to have this number of boys or this number of girls,’ ” Hein said. “Those roles, … except for a couple, could be played by any one of our artists.”

Hein said the production’s opening night, which occurred on Saturday, was “truly wonderful.”

“I think the audience reaction spoke for itself — there was standing ovation for the whole curtain call of the show, people were clapping, laughing, crying tears of joy and just having an absolute ball,” Hein said. “... And when the kids came off the stage, you could just see the reaction on their faces (of), ‘Yeah, we did something really special.’ They loved it.”

Dr. Shellie Howard, the production’s mentor coordinator and another TWO board member, highlighted one of the positives that comes out of putting on the show are the personal connections made throughout the process.

“... One of the biggest things that we have found is that we make friendships. Some kids don’t even go to the same school. We have some kids that are homeschooled. We have some kids that are in private school, public schools,” she said, “... Whenever we match up our artists and our mentors and bring them together, they form a unique bond and a friendship that will last the test of time.”

Howard said the mentors went through a “boot camp” before rehearsals and getting paired up with the artists “that … mimics what it’s like to not be able to do something.”

“... One of the things we did on stage … was put a blindfold on (the mentors) and we let them lead each other though … a little maze, so there was that trust and communication …,” she said. “... They kind of learn that they are the one that is leading somebody who maybe has never been on stage, or might be nervous about going on stage or not had that opportunity before.

“... I believe that it builds compassion, it builds empathy for somebody who is (maybe a little bit) different or does things differently than you; but you can still be friends with them, and I hope that opens up their worldview a little bit about including people.”

Calli Whitmore, TWO’s education coordinator and the production’s stage manager, was aware of the existence and purpose of The Penguin Project while studying at Murray State University — located a mile away from Playhouse in the Park — but didn’t know “how special and truly amazing this project is to work in and be a part of” until the inaugural production last year.

Whitmore feels having a program like The Penguin Project can open more doors and hopefully prosper encouragement.

“... I think it’s important for these kids to just have an opportunity because sometimes they might (not feel) confident, they might not come out to a regular youth show, they might now feel like they can or that they might not get chosen,” she said. “I feel like this project, specifically, kind of trumps all of those doubts and really just emphasizes how good of a production this is and making those artists feel like they belong within a community.

“It’s just something so special that you just have to see ….”