4 days ago
The show must go on, LCT brings Penguin Project to the stage
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Started in 2004, The Penguin Project aims to bring theater experiences to youths with developmental disabilities. Each year, a production is mounted in theaters across the country with casts that consist of kids with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, visual impairment, hearing impairment, and other neurological disorders. They are joined on stage by a dedicated group of 'peer mentors' – children the same age without disabilities who have volunteered to work side-by-side with them through 4 months of rehearsals and on through the final performance. By providing access to community theater, The Penguin Project demonstrates that the special challenges of a disability should not handicap a child's ability to participate in life's experiences.
For a few years, the La Crosse Community Theatre (LCT) has been one of the many theaters that participate in the Penguin Project. For the past three years, LCT has been trying to obtain a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help with funding of their chapter of the Penguin Project. After receiving the grant earlier in January of this year, LCT was informed in April that the grant would be rescinded because the program did not align with the new DEI guidelines put forth by the Trump administration. That was in the middle of the current LCT Penguin Project production.
Let me put that more clearly. LCT repeatedly applied for a grant from the NEA to fund a program intended for youths with developmental disabilities. They received the grant in January. This year's Penguin show starts rehearsals in March. Kids have gotten their scripts and have started learning how to be in and do a community theater show. Then, because of new DEI guidelines, the NEA rescinds the grant.
Then, the La Crosse communtiy did something beautiful. They responded with an outpouring of support. Not only will the show go on this year, but according to the LCT Artistic Advancement Director, Alex Attardo, 'Penguin is here to stay. It's not going anywhere.'
With that said, the show must go on, and on it does! This weekend, June 13th through the 15th, you have 3 opportunities to see these talented kids in the Big Bad Musical. According to Pioneer Drama Service, the notorious Big Bad Wolf has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit by the quirky storybook characters who want to get even: Little Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother, the Three Little Pigs, and the Shepherd in charge of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. With Sydney Grimm as the commentator on live Court TV, the two greatest legal minds in the Enchanted Forest (the Evil Stepmother and the Fairy Godmother) clash in a trial that will be remembered forever after.
The shows are Friday evening at 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm. You can buy tickets on the LCT website or at the door before the show.
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