(no audio) (soft music) (soft music continues) (soft music continues) - [Speaker 1] Dwyer & Michaels in, 26 below zero right now.

- [Speaker 2] Wait, we're going the wrong way.

- [Speaker 1] I know we are.

I know we are.

The real feel is minus 59 with the wind.

- So I guess we call that a wind chill.

You shouldn't be outside with exposed skin for longer than 10 minutes.

- Four minutes.

- Four minutes?

Yes, let's break a record.

- [Speaker 1] Well, I know you like the cold.

You're one of those, you're one of those weirdos.

- [Speaker 2] No, and here's the thing.

I don't particularly enjoy this, but if we're this close, and what's the record?

- [Speaker 1] I don't know.

- [Speaker 2] But we gotta shatter it, right?

Let's go for 30.

(soft music) - Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Center for Living Arts and the Penguin Project.

Are you excited to be here?

(group cheering) - I hope so too.

Not yet.

Not yet.

- [Director] Are you ready?

- I think.

- You are.

- [Director] Oh the thinks you can think.

All right, cue music, please.

♪ It's possible ♪ ♪ Anything's possible ♪ I can't do it.

(bright music) (lyrics muffled) - [Director] You did great.

(group cheering and applauding) (Hannah crying) - Cue the music, please.

♪ Because I have wings ♪ ♪ Yes, I can fly ♪ ♪ Around the moon ♪ ♪ And far beyond the sky ♪ ♪ And one day soon ♪ ♪ I know you'll be ♪ ♪ One small voice in the universe ♪ ♪ One true friend in the universe ♪ ♪ who believes in me ♪ (group cheering and applauding) - I know a lot of people were nervous about the auditions 'cause that's the nervous part, 'cause you don't know what parts you're gonna get.

So Hannah, I never knew her before and I knew she was having some trouble, so I just went up and gave her a hug.

So, and now we're like really close together.

- I'm like, well I have another shot at being the Sour Kangaroo.

So I'm like, well, I wanted to do this, so I might as well give it a try.

♪ Maybe I'm nasty, maybe I'm cruel ♪ ♪ But you're the biggest blame fool ♪ ♪ In the jungle of Nool ♪ - [Director] Yeah!

(group cheering and applauding) - You did it!

(group cheering and applauding) - I mean, this is my first musical.

My whole life people say I can't do a musical, but I did it anyways.

- Mayzie is being sassy and like fashion.

♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ (indistinct) ♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ (all laughing) (group cheering and applauding) - [Director] Nice, nice.

Most of you are on stage for this part.

- A lot of times I'm just surprised that they remember all their lines and that they're really performing like this.

It was like when we first went there, Dino told everybody, parents stay in the stands.

Let the kids be, let them grow, let them be themselves.

So you got that slight nervous, like, can they do this?

Can they do this?

♪ If you open your mind ♪ ♪ Oh, the things you will find ♪ ♪ Lining up to get loose ♪ ♪ Oh, the thinks you can think when you think ♪ ♪ When you think about Seuss ♪ (group cheering and applauding) - [Kathy] Most of his seizures, unfortunately, he drops.

You hate it, don't you?

- [Grant] Yes, I hate- - [Kathy] Having seizures, huh?

Yeah.

- [Geoff] So does mom and dad.

- Yeah.

- We thought we were out of the woods.

So, it's a big deal for us, really.

- So, but the seizures for you just started like two years ago.

So this kind of a new thing, isn't it?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- [Geoff] At age three he was put on a helicopter and flown to Iowa City.

- It was kind of touch and go.

- It was, yeah.

- For the first week.

- We could have lost him.

He had something that's called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which is basically MS that happens instantaneous instead of over a 20-30 year period.

- [Dino] I may wanna be Horton so much, but I may end up being Jungle Creature number six, and I'll just say, well, I wanted to be Horton, but you know what?

I'm gonna be the best Jungle Creature number six that the world has ever seen.

And I will show the people of the Quad Cities what Jungle Creature six should be.

And that's the way we will do it.

And we'll work together.

We will work together to make this the best show that we can.

- [Caralee] Okay, so I'm looking at the cast list.

Hannah Rath is (tapping the table) the Sour Kangaroo.

(Hannah cheering) - I knew I would get it.

- [Caralee] You knew you would get it?

Why did you know you would get it?

- Because I'm good at it.

- Because you're good at it?

- [Dad] So read it aloud.

- Yes.

Find your name.

- Okay.

- Your name.

- Oh my God!

Yes!

- Tell dad.

- What'd you get?

- Mayzie La Bird.

- Mayzie?

- Yes.

- [Dad] Awesome.

Pretty cool.

(laughing) - Okay, I got a message here from Dino and Tina.

Do you wanna hear it?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Let me see.

Let me see.

Sarah Coughlin, they want you to be a Who!

A Whoville citizen.

Exciting.

Yay.

- You wanted to be a Who, didn't you?

Yeah?

Tell mom.

(Sarah yelling) - I'm a, Who.

- A Who?

- Yes!

(Sarah laughing) - People are sometimes afraid to let her try things.

I mean, we were told she couldn't be in choir because they didn't know how she would react on stage.

♪ I'm going to protect them with you ♪ ♪ And the young kangaroo in her pouch said ♪ ♪ Me too ♪ (group cheering) - [Caralee] Hannah was always, always a little bit different.

Hannah gravitated towards adults.

- [Director] I'm gonna take the bird girls, jungle creatures and Horton, Sour.

- Sour?

Use the other name too.

Sorry, my name's not Sour.

It's Sour Kangaroo.

- She didn't learn to interact real well with the other children.

Where we first saw the signs of the mental illness was when Hannah went to middle school, and all of a sudden Hannah's no longer in her little small class of 24 students with two adults in the room at all times.

To now she's in a school of 600 students and she doesn't have her one-on-one aide anymore.

One of the things that has happened is as Hannah approached puberty, she started having some extreme mood issues.

- And people ask me what my disability is all the time.

And I say, well, I'm bipolar.

And they say, what's that?

I said, well, basically I have things in my brain that are unbalanced, when a normal person would have a balance in it.

But basically when I have an emotion, it feels stronger than other people.

And I can have many multiple emotions at once.

So I could be happy, mad, sad, depressed at the same time.

(Hannah crying) - [Director] Sometimes we have rough days, you know.

Sometimes we just have a rough day.

But we've got friends and we (indistinct).

- [Hannah] 'Cause other kids would be like, other kids would be like sad for a few seconds and I could be like bawling my eyes out for a few hours.

- [Caralee] And then happy shortly after that.

- Yeah, it's like, and once my body says it's okay, it's like, hi, how are you guys doing?

I didn't cry earlier.

I'm fine.

People always ask me, how come you were crying earlier?

I said, I have to come up with an excuse sometimes, because most of the time it's for no reason.

She said I'm her biggest fan.

And you're totally right, yeah.

- I love you.

- I love you, too.

♪ The biggest blame fool in the jungle of Nool ♪ ♪ He's always been friendly and loyal and kind ♪ ♪ I just don't believe Norton's out of his mind ♪ - For Alyssa, when they talk about walking, she's not gonna be able to walk that.

So it kind of tugs at you a little bit.

- I think she had surgery like within a week of her birth.

She had cleft palate when she was born, too.

They took care of that when she was born.

She had spinal problems.

She had surgery for that when she was born, also.

We got to come home first.

The kids, the twins had to stay out there.

Gavin got to come home first.

I think he was on it for- - It was April 15th.

She was June 17th.

- So she had to stay a couple months in the hospital.

So we had to leave her there and come home, that was a hard thing to do.

- Yes.

- So I had to go down there to try to see her every day or call down there.

Sometimes the only contact we had was through the nurses by phone.

- [Interviewer] How do your parents help you, Alyssa?

You're doing great there.

What is it about the Penguin Project?

What drew you to the Penguin Project?

You want to talk about that a little bit, Alyssa?

- [Alyssa] It makes me happy and I get excited and, when we first got there I was really happy and it made me feel joyful.

- [Interviewer] How does it make you feel joyful?

- They're my family and friends and they always protect me, kind of nervous and happy.

- I've seen her.

She explodes when she runs in that door.

- Oh yeah.

She's always dancing.

They have music on when they come in and she's right to Tina, dancing, going, going crazy.

- But the audience will see and that will make them love you so much, right away.

- Alyssa pretends that she's shy, Jay.

- [Jay] Oh really?

- She's not at all.

- Yes I am.

- She likes to dance - And camera.

- You're gonna do great.

Yeah, you're gonna do great.

♪ A person's a person ♪ ♪ No matter how small ♪ - Well, I really like it technically because, well I get to sing and dance, which is two of my most favorite things to do.

And the most best part about it is being along with your friends and family.

♪ And then, who knows?

♪ ♪ It's possible ♪ ♪ Anything's possible ♪ - With Deane being homeschooled, it's always great to have opportunities to have social interactions.

It's through the guidance of these mentors who have training to help guide the artists.

So maybe navigating a social situation, helping them to follow the necessary rules of just keeping things moving.

And then of course to help them shine at the end, which is amazing, because it's just not an opportunity that happens for a lot of people who are facing challenges.

Usually they're in the background if they get to participate at all.

- [Director] It's the Jungle of Nool.

- [Speaker] Near the River Walloo.

- A lot of times maybe waiting, waiting for his cue and just kind of being patient I guess, and focused.

Those would be two of his bigger challenges.

♪ I'm alone in the universe ♪ ♪ So alone in the universe ♪ - He did a great job overcoming them.

It was amazing to watch him flourish.

It's a great environment for him.

- Would you like to like to read a book or something?

- No.

- Deane.

- Nothing.

- We've got one more work session after this.

- [TV Voice] Let's try again later.

(Deane crying) - [Annie] He used to have a lot of communication challenges, and for a lot of people on the autism spectrum, that means behavioral challenges too because it's an effort to communicate.

And so working through that and giving him the words and motivating him to communicate rather than react in the ways that he originally had was a process.

And he has always loved dinosaurs.

And so over the last eight years that evolved and for about three of those years, probably ages four to seven, even maybe beyond that, any time we went somewhere social, we expected him to behave like a dinosaur, because that is how he handled the world.

And as he got older, we were nervous that that would keep him from having positive social interactions.

(Deane growling) - And tell me, Dean, what dinosaur you are gonna be.

- [Annie] Dean, what dinosaur are you gonna be?

- I'm a triceratops.

- Oh cool.

Let's see it.

(Deane growling) Because it's just unexpected, and that's a word we use a lot in our house.

That's unexpected behavior because it's, there's all these unwritten rules in our society that a lot of us just figure out and we actually have to teach those rules and they're not easy.

So, and it helps us to learn some things that maybe we're not communicating well too, because he's not seeing it the same way.

- This is velociraptor's nemesis, the protoceratops normally lived in the deserts of the Badlands of Mongolia and China.

This dinosaur has a very fragile frill.

At first it's confused for mystical half lion, half eagle, mystical animal named the gryphon.

So this is a Cryolophosaurus.

It lived in Antarctica during the Jurassic period.

True fact that during the Jurassic period it was actually very green.

So what it is now, now a snow lizard.

- Come on in.

- Sarah!

(Sarah screaming) Hi Sarah!

How are you?

Excited, okay.

- Sarah and Gracie were born normal C-section birth, everything seemed fine.

Sarah had some feeding issues.

She had a lot of reflux and so, we were initially concerned about a physical milestone.

She missed a lot of physical milestones.

They started her in PT at about 11 months, and she was able to catch up.

So they initially told us that there were some delays, but it would be no big deal in the long run.

(cast singing) (lyrics muffled) Sarah makes my heart happy every day.

Initially the University of Iowa asked us if we were aware of the label they were going to give her in order for her to receive funding from state of Iowa, and the label at the time was an MR waiver and that was for mental retardation, and that was really disturbing to us that that was the term that they still used.

We didn't like the term, we didn't think that the term was right.

It gave people an impression that we didn't want them to have about our Sarah.

So we talked about whether or not we were going to share that, and decided we weren't going to use the words.

We were very happy when the state of Iowa changed the label for the waiver to intellectually disabled.

- And so what you're gonna do is you're gonna kick yourself in the air.

All right, you're gonna bring up your foot.

So it's a- Does that make sense?

- Yeah.

(cast singing) - [Director] Just imagine the Whos' unusual life.

♪ Picture the tiniest houses and grocery stores ♪ ♪ Who ♪ - Initially not getting a diagnosis was very nerve wracking, because we weren't sure what we were going to be facing.

We had other friends in our community whose children had seizures.

The children who have Downs have heart and lung issues.

We weren't sure if there was something hidden that we were gonna have to be careful of and be aware of and protect or just know.

And once she got to a certain age, they were like, okay, at this point we're comfortable that there isn't some hidden medical issue that's gonna come up that's gonna be a, a really big health risk.

And that's when we said, okay, we're okay with no diagnosis.

- The difficult part of that is the fact is, is the unknown, quite simply.

I mean, what does it look like as far as the future, as far as the type of care, what we need to expect, how to plan, those type of things.

When you don't have those laid out or don't have that understanding, then that would be the kind of the frustrating part, the little bit scary part.

But at this particular point, everything seems to be it's a normal life expectancy.

And, Sarah will be Sarah, you know, as we move forward.

- [Kari] The core of it is, is Maddie and special needs children are born to teach us all how God wants us to be.

I learned along the way that we had to mourn, we had to mourn the loss of the typical child.

And you have to do that.

We have to do that because then once you do that, you can embrace all the beautifulness that that comes from her.

- Let's talk about me.

♪ Let's talk about, talk about, talk about, talk about me ♪ - She teaches us empathy, perseverance, strength, forgiveness, happiness.

I mean, I can, I can just go on and on.

She can't stay mad to save her life.

- No.

- She tries to sometimes.

- I try to, at my brothers.

(Kari laughing) - Can't hold grudges.

- Every day at school, I would get asked why I don't go to the same school as them two.

And they, I just give them the same answer.

- [Interviewer] What you tell 'em?

- What do you tell 'em?

- I have special needs and they don't.

- Yeah, we had to go through genetic testing and there was no genetic defect.

- So to speak.

- Yeah, yeah.

- [Kari] Right, right.

So it was all from the twin to twin transfusion in the womb, and the not knowing at that time, it was crushing.

It was crushing.

- [Rachel] And which role do you hope you get?

- [Halea] Gertrude.

- What about one feathered bird?

That'd be kind of tough to fly with.

(Halea laughing) Well, Halea's had a long road.

We met with a doctor here in the Quad City area and she thought we needed to talk to a genetics team.

Through that process, we found that Halea had a genetic condition called CLS or Coffin Lowry Syndrome.

And so with that, it kind of like a light bulb went off and it kind of clicked and made sense.

So from that point, we knew who we were.

Not that that defines us, but we knew why some of these things were challenging Halea.

You know, up until that point we had a lot of different labels.

When someone says your child is this or that, and this is what they need or that's what they need, and you feel in your heart that that's not quite it, it's very frustrating ♪ Oh the thinks you can think ♪ ♪ Any thinker who thinks ♪ ♪ Can come up with a few ♪ ♪ Think a trip on a ship ♪ ♪ To the vipper of vipp ♪ ♪ Or to Solla Sollew ♪ - [Cat] Think of beautiful Schlopp.

- [Boy] With a cherry on top.

♪ You don't need an excuse ♪ - [Cat, Boy] Oh the thinks you can think.

♪ When you think about Seuss, Seuss, Seuss, Seuss, Seuss ♪ - Abigail was born nearly three weeks prematurely, was born with a heart condition, had a hemi vertebrae, and was gonna need heart surgery when she was two and a half months old.

She's had 13 surgeries and procedures in her life, two open heart surgeries, spinal fusion palate surgery.

- So then when Elizabeth was born, she was three weeks old, the doctor called me and said, well we think she might have cystic fibrosis.

And that was heartbreaking, 'cause we already had one child that had a lot of health issues and medical issues.

And so then like maybe two years after Elizabeth was diagnosed, we gave the test to Abigail and they both have the gene mutation.

- For me, it's been a huge blessing to meet a lot of the other families, to get to know some of the other parents, to interact with them when I am at practice or rehearsals or other things.

It's been a neat bond that you create with the other families and with the parents, knowing that a lot of your kids may have similar struggles, battles, and trials, for sure.

- It's good to meet new people.

- It was her birthday in August, but she didn't get to celebrate it then, 'cause you were in the hospital, right?

- So from spring of her freshman year, through that summer, she actually was having so bad of issues that she was going inpatient on a regular basis.

- Almost every day.

- She actually had an inpatient where she was to the point she was actively on a regular basis hearing voices and seeing people that weren't there.

And the voices were telling her to hurt other people.

And, so the worst of the worst was because of some mental health workers that weren't really understanding what was going on, they turned over to the juvenile detention facility, and Hannah actually spent- - About two weeks.

- You spent six weeks.

- Oh.

- Locked up in a six by eight cell with no interaction with other people.

She was in solitary confinement because she was dangerous to herself and dangerous to other people.

- And they wouldn't let me out.

- Once she got into the system, we couldn't get her out, because they needed, they knew, everyone knew she needed to go to a facility, and there was not a facility in the state of Illinois that she could go to.

Yeah, Hannah actually ended up in Portsmouth, Virginia in a mental health facility in Portsmouth, Virginia.

- [Hannah] Harbor Point.

- [Caralee] And Harbor Point was the perfect place for Hannah.

And we had therapists that one would say to her, we talked about singing yourself happy.

- It says, a day without singing is like, just kidding, I have no idea.

- So Hannah's been home since August of this year.

So we were very excited when she was gonna have the opportunity to be a part of this project and be able to sing, and have something to look forward to.

- Yeah.

- She was in the hospital, so she's gonna celebrate her birthday today.

All right, so we're gonna sing Happy Birthday to these two.

- I like singing Happy Birthday.

- Are you ready?

So sing it loud and proud.

Show 'em your love.

Here we go.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Cha cha cha ♪ (group cheering and applauding) - [Speaker] One of the things that the Penguin Project has brought to these kids is a circle of friends.

We have neurotypical kids being friends with kids with developmental disabilities.

We have neurotypical kids that are being friends with including, and it's a genuine friendship.

- Stay tuned.

We'll be right back.

(wind blowing) - We had the polar vortex came through from way up at the North Pole and it decided to land right here in the Quad Cities and messed with our Penguin rehearsal.

We decided to close on Monday evening.

We've been closed all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday.

And we're closing all day today because the temperatures are still that, that freezing.

Penguin should be used to the cold, but we're not used to this much cold.

I'm concerned about it.

I'm not really scared about it because they understand the importance of it, the mentors and the artists.

And the parents understand that everybody's gonna have to dig in a little bit deeper.

If need be, we'll add another rehearsal and, but we will push on through.

There's always a little bit of magic that happens with these shows.

- It's really cold, but we got off of school a lot.

I was excited.

I wanted to talk to my mentor.

- Oh yeah.

They couldn't wait to get back into a routine and be back to the Penguin Project and seeing how the show was gonna progress.

- We did survive the weather.

Everybody stayed home from work for one day anyway, but after that it was it was okay.

Went back to work on Thursday, so.

- [Interviewer] Maddie went back to work, or did she work at all?

- Yeah, she worked on Tuesday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

- [Speaker] Or do you want a bigger table?

- I want a bigger.

We have a thing called, I call it the in order part, 'cause we have to go in order.

First drinks, soups, salads, then the entree.

And I am just glad to make those old people feel happy.

Sometimes they're cranky, but sometimes I just really want to change their attitude.

So I just like, oh, hey, you look so pretty today.

Did you get a haircut?

Notice those things.

(Kari laughing) Or give them a hug every single day.

- She's a good waitress.

- Yep.

- We'll keep her around.

- [Alyssa] I just had a birthday.

- [Questioner] You had a birthday?

- [Alyssa] Yeah, I'm 14.

- [Questioner] How's it feel to be old?

- [Alyssa] Scary.

- [Questioner] Scary?

Why is it scary?

You don't want tell me.

- Huh?

- You don't wanna tell me?

- No.

- [Teacher] So you're gonna use a set first, not a bump.

Not a bump, that's a bump.

Ready?

Try to get it up high.

Two hands for a set.

- That's okay.

I then leave to go to work at a hospital.

- The whole goal of the entire program is to gain employment in the community at 16 hours or more a week, and be able to live independently someday and work on their own and be members of the community in a very functional and contributing way.

- [Interviewer] Do you have a favorite part of the work that you do?

Is there anything that you really, that you really like doing?

- Well, probably my most favorite part is candy, checking off candy.

Like what I'm doing right now.

- You've done awesome.

You've, you did more than the doctors ever told us you were going to.

The doctors gave us a pretty bleak report on, because it was pretty significant brain injury after the illness.

Myelin can be regenerated, but since the nerve grant didn't respond right away and they, they kind of gave us the worst case scenario, but.

- [Interviewer] Which was what?

- He'd never walk again.

- Wouldn't walk again.

Probably talk again.

- Couldn't talk again.

- That he would have probably quite a few, as a teenager, possibly some mental health issues.

They just kind of, ugh.

It was not good.

- Welcome to the Brunner Theatre.

We're here, we made it.

(audience cheering) Beautiful.

♪ How lucky you are ♪ - She has a MRI tomorrow for her tumor, a tumor behind her right eye.

But then she has other doctor visits too.

They also look at her spine and her legs too while she's there.

She has spina bifida.

So, I think we see a total of three doctors tomorrow.

So it'll be a busy day.

A little bit before eight o'clock, we just get off the road.

They got her all prepped and ready.

She's ready for her MRI.

Once we get that done, we'll see a host of doctors this afternoon.

But right now we're just waiting to get wheeled out to the MRI room.

- [Interviewer] What is the MRI for?

- MRI is for the check the tumor behind her right eye.

Make sure it hasn't progressed and gotten any worse.

Right now it's been stabilized through chemo treatments, which she's already, she's done with her chemo treatments.

So we're just making sure we don't have to go back on the chemo to keep the tumor from getting progressive.

- [Interviewer] Alyssa, how you feeling?

- How you feeling?

- [Doctor] If you're eating something and it tastes funny.

So you must be a clown.

- I feel funny.

- It's okay.

- [Doctor] It's okay.

Yeah, it's just gonna help you relax.

Okay?

You all right?

It's okay to feel funny.

- Probably about 40 minutes.

We'll see a couple doctors later today and hopefully all goes well.

♪ When you're down in Palm Beach ♪ ♪ With the breeze in your hair ♪ ♪ When you don't have an egg or a nest or a care ♪ ♪ Tell yourself how lucky you are ♪ ♪ How lucky you are ♪ - [Director] Cat, you got a fan.

- [Greg] It was a different thing.

- It was a different, I'd never acted before.

And, it's a different act.

♪ Get those pills and you can have frills ♪ At least two songs down already.

But, just the memorization is what I have troubles with.

♪ In the Jungle of Nool, Nool, Nool ♪ ♪ In the Jungle of Nool, Nool, Nool ♪ ♪ In the Jungle of Nool, Nool, Nool ♪ - We've really, we've really nailed it.

I'm sorry guys (group laughs).

(group cheering and applauding) (muffled speaking) - [Speaker] Ah, ha ha, I love it.

You better go show Dino.

- I need longer overalls.

- [Speaker] No you don't.

Man's supposed to be like that.

- [Speaker 2] Can you go show Dino?

- [Speaker] (indistinct) should have stayed up, you think?

- Okay.

You know, it's cold.

- It's cold.

- [Speaker] It's a little cold, yeah.

- At least we have matching ones.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Sour Kangaroo.

- Sour Kangaroo.

- Oh my gosh.

- That's cute.

- [Costumer] Now you're, well you know what you are, a sour kangaroo.

(laughing) - [Speaker] She has a pouch.

You see that?

- Yeah.

- She's a kangaroo.

- [Speaker] Yeah, but Maddie's not in here.

- - [Speaker 2] Well, if you have a little kangaroo, you can put it in there.

- You have a kangaroo.

- I do?

- [Caralee] We have that little, you have a little Beanie Baby Kangaroo.

- That thing is not going to stick out.

That thing is like this big.

- So we need to go get our tights, our leggings.

- When, today?

- We can.

Or maybe we'll see on Amazon if we can find some.

- No, today.

- [Claire] I don't know where we get 'em, so we might have to order 'em.

Ellen, any suggestion where we can get colorful tights?

I just know black.

- Party City.

- Party City.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

Do you have a preference on color then?

- What about color?

- [Costumer] Whatever you want.

- All right, wild thing.

- No, no (indistinct).

- [Claire] You can do pink.

Hot pink would be very pretty.

You want hot pink?

- It's kind of weird.

- It's not kind of weird.

- But it's cool.

- It is very fun.

It would be a very fun custom.

- [Ellen] And when you're all out there together, yeah.

That's gonna be neat.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Ellen] It'll make some sort of sense when everybody's dressed.

- When everybody's dressed?

- What's your name?

- Ellen.

- Hi, nice to meet you, Ellen.

I'm Hannah.

- Hannah, nice to meet you.

- All right, then we're outta here.

- [Ellen] It's time for supper.

- No, we, we can't eat supper.

- Bye, camera.

- [Medical Person] Good morning.

- [Dad] Get done with your MRI.

Waking up?

Tired?

Maybe a little while we'll get your little glass, little juice box or something.

- [Nurse] So we're gonna look at that right kidney first.

Jelly's gonna be warm.

- Is it hot?

- [Nurse] It shouldn't be too hot, but it should be a little warm.

Is that okay?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

All right, go ahead and take a big breath in for me and hold it.

Good.

You can breathe.

Okay, another big breath in and hold it.

All right, great.

We are all finished.

All right, let me get you cleaned up here.

- We have multiple modalities that we use for kids recovering from surgery.

We use music therapy then we use play therapy.

In today's day and age, then where we're trying to minimize their exposure to narcotics, I think those things, those alternative therapies are more important than ever.

- I think leading up to dress rehearsals and some of the things that was hard for us to realize was that for Hannah, she was already thinking about, it's going to be over.

She was hearing murmuring in her head.

She knew that the medicine that her brother was taking was something that would help with hearing voices.

It was coming up right to that last week of opening night.

We weren't gonna have a rehearsal, it was a break.

And in the car on the way home, she says, "Mom, I need to tell you something."

She says, "Well, I took a bunch of Buddy's meds."

I'm trying not to be angry, but that was the first place that my brain went to was, how can you mess this up?

You know, she's been doing so well.

And so I said to her, I said, Hannah, I said, "how many did you take?"

She says, "well, I took 14."

She's never been a pill taker, never, even at the worst, she never took pills, but she took his pills.

If she would have taken 14 of her pills, she wouldn't be here today.

Music for Hannah, at the absolute worst, at those absolute worst weeks of hospitalizations, and during that awful time, the music was buried, but it never got lost.

And that was the first thing that we used.

And I could tell that there was hope that Hannah was going to make it through this, was that the music was back.

Because there was a point in time where we weren't sure if she was going to ever come back, that inside and everything that makes Hannah, we were afraid we were losing it.

- Already, I don't think the Quad Cities even knew tickets were on sale yet.

You're selling, you're performing to sold out houses for six performances.

(indistinct) (group cheering and applauding) - [Speaker] Are you ready?

- Thank you.

- [Interviewer] What's your favorite part about this play?

- The end.

- The end?

- Tonight I'm worried about my neck is gonna fall off.

- We've got each other and we've got the show that we know how to do.

So every time we go (exhaling), we let out some of that nervous energy.

So take another deep breath in.

(all inhaling) Hold it.

You're gonna grab onto that energy, grab onto that power.

Feel it, feel it in your heart.

- What's that?

- [Dino] And let out the junk.

(all exhaling) - Can I have a gas mask?

Like (indistinct).

- Loves being on stage even though it takes him a while to warm up to it, but once he's there... - It seems so cute.

- ...I think he has to get the audience, I think he's bored with us parents, you know what I mean?

(laughing) I think he'll shine better when it's an actual audience.

- [Kari] I'm just nervous for her.

Just nervous energy really is what it is.

She's gonna do great.

- Are you excited?

- She's gonna do great.

I'm very excited, very excited for all of them.

They've all come so far, so very far since three months ago.

- Are you ready?

- No.

Are you nervous?

- Yeah.

- [Claire] No need to be nervous, okay?

- Love you.

- [Claire] Good luck.

- Break a leg, but don't literally.

- Break a leg.

- My leg?

- Break A leg is an old saying in the theater.

It means good luck.

- Break your own leg.

I'll break my own leg then, go get 'em.

- It'll knock your socks off.

(uptempo music) - Are you ready to see this show?

(group cheering and applauding) Penguins, are you ready to do your show?

- [Penguins] Yeah!

- Actors to places.

- Places, thank you!

(child yelling) (audience laughing) - Our story begins with a very strange sound, the drums of a jungle beginning to pound.

(tribal drumming) ♪ Who who wah dah ♪ ♪ Who who who wah dah dah ♪ ♪ Who who wah dah ♪ Now think of an elephant lumbering through.

♪ Who who wah dah ♪ ♪ Who who who wah dah dah ♪ - Horton!

- Yes, Horton!

- [Cat And Boy] Horton hears a Who!

- Help.

Help.

(cast singing) (lyrics muffled) (Deane indistinct) ♪ Tellin' lies, makin' jokes ♪ ♪ It's an elephant hoax ♪ ♪ Brother, that's against the law ♪ ♪ Breakin' the peace, creatin' a fuss ♪ - Someone's thinking different than us.

♪ Biggest blame fool in the jungle of Nool, Nool ♪ ♪ In the jungle of Nool, Nool, Nool ♪ ♪ In the jungle of Nool ♪ ♪ I'll just have to save him ♪ ♪ Because after all ♪ ♪ A person's a person, no matter how small ♪ ♪ A person's a person no matter how ♪ (cast chanting) - [Interviewer] What's wrong?

- I just feel a little drowsy.

- He just doesn't feel good.

You feel like what you feel like when you're normal (indistinct)?

- Yeah.

- Are you still gonna be in the show?

- I hope I can.

♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ ♪ As feathered as feathered can be now ♪ ♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ ♪ It was all for sale ♪ ♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ ♪ The birds are all whistling at me now ♪ ♪ Amayzing Mayzie ♪ ♪ Baby, that's my tail ♪ - It doesn't matter that she messes up, and this is what I tell her over and over again.

It doesn't matter if you go out there and mess up.

It matters the most that you're out there and you're doing it.

You're doing it and you're trying your hardest.

It's all that matters.

- Every single night's exciting.

- Yeah.

- So.

- I just see the kids every time more self-confidence and swag.

They're getting swag.

(laughing) - You know, it's good for her to know that she's really super good at something.

- Watching them from like the first practice till now?

- [Kari] It's just amazing, how these kids are transforming.

(cast singing) (lyrics muffled) (cast singing) (Horton gasping) (cast singing) (cast singing) (cast muffled) (muffled speaking) - [Speaker 1] Did she fall down?

- [Speaker 2] No, on stage she just collapsed.

- [Speaker 1] She didn't hit her head?

- [Speaker 2] Oh no, she didn't.

- You go by Abby or Abigail?

- [Abigail] Abigail.

- Can you look at me?

- [Dino] She got a little anemic, passed out behind the stage.

People actually caught her and... - Oh she did.

- [Dino] ...helped her to the ground.

Alviana did a beautiful job and was there to help, but she was actually up throwing up as well Friday night, so we went to the ER, got some fluids, needed a day of rest.

Recuperation to eat and drink.

- Everything okay?

- Yeah, yeah, she's all right.

Yeah.

That and the show must go on.

- Short of breath.

- Why hello, Mr.

Mayor.

Is JoJo all right?

- Hi, Horton!

- Oh JoJo, hello!

(muffled singing) You can do what you want with me, Your Honor.

And I won't question why.

♪ But please save Who ♪ ♪ The tiniest planet in the sky ♪ Don't give up.

I believe in you all.

A person's a person no matter how small.

And you very small persons will not have to die if you make yourselves heard, so please, try!

♪ Boil it, boil it, boil it, boil it ♪ - We are here, we are here, we are here, we are here, we are here, we are here, ♪ Boil it ♪ we are here.

♪ Boil it ♪ - Yopp!

(soft music) - Do you hear what I hear?

Do you see what I mean?

They made themselves heard though they still can't be seen.

- They've proved they are persons, no matter how small.

- And their whole world was saved by the smallest of all.

- How true.

Yes, how true said the Sour Kangaroo.

And from now on, you know what I'm planning to do?

I'm going to protect them with you.

♪ And the young kangaroo in her pouch said ♪ ♪ Me, too ♪ (audience applauding and cheering) - Every performance was awesome and I will miss everyone that was in this.

- [Interviewer] Are you ready for the Penguin Project next year?

- Yeah.

- [Interviewer] I got this for you.

(muffled talk in background) - I'm relieved, but yet I'm pretty sad, because I loved the show and I made a lot of friends here.

But I know that there's other ways that we can connect with each other.

Yeah.

- [Interviewer] Are you gonna be back next year for more?

- Absolutely, yes.

And you better come too, Maddie.

- Maddie, what about you?

- It's saddening, joyful, and a beautiful part of the whole family of the Penguin Project.

- It's a connection that the girls and our family will always have with their mentors and their families.

- I feel tired.

Sad, kind of, but, it's always next year.

- Well, after the Penguin project, then our dance marathon kicks in.

- Well we also had the kids also have, there's other activities.

They have bowling, they have softball, so, and wrestling and TaeKwonDo.

So, the schedule never stops.

- Yeah, it's always going.

- After the Penguin Project, if I ever get too old to do anything, any of the Penguin Project, I decide that I could possibly just start working on my jobs that I've mentioned later.

Find a girlfriend.

Try to go into college for being a botanist, a zoologist, a paleontologist.

And possibly, if I could get in, I could become a movie director.

- Probably stay with that, then move out someday.

Someday move out and just be with friends, move out with friends, like three or four, I don't know.

- Since we've started this road, our whole goal for Madison is to have her be as independent as possible.

That has been the number one goal.

And now we're here, we're getting closer to that.

And, it's so exciting, and it's everything that we have been working towards, on one hand.

And on the other hand, it really makes us feel like we wanna vomit.

It's so scary.

It's so scary.

- He would be playing that Penguin Project CD, you know, almost every day after it.

Now he's kind of backed off now a little bit, you know, starting with new interests and stuff with basketball and stuff, but he would play it every day, multiple times, the CD.

- You had it bud.

- A person's a person no matter how small.

(all clapping and cheering) - Closing day of the show was a lot of mixed emotions for us.

The final performances were kind of a (exhaling) type of moment.

We were just kind of like, okay, this thing's off the list, let's move on to the next thing.

And I don't think that as the way that we were viewing final performance, and maybe the way that Hannah was viewing the final performance were the same.

- [Hannah] Guess who's back?

- [Caralee] We just picked Hannah up from being up in Chicago.

She spent the last week in a treatment facility there, getting some meds tweaked.

- Being home was just kinda strange.

Like normally I'm here, then I go to Penguin Project and then I go again the next day.

It used to be every Wednesday.

- [Caralee] Thursday night when Hannah called 911, she was calling and advocating for herself.

She said mentally, I'm not in a good place and I need to go to the hospital.

And she says, I just need to get outta here now before someone gets hurt.

- When I get angry, I don't want to hurt somebody, because I'm not that kind of person anymore.

- [Caralee] I think maybe for Hannah, it was more about the end of a performances also meant the end of her circle of friends.

- [Caralee] I was relieved, but also very disappointed that it was over.

I think she went back to feeling some isolation.

At any given day, any given moment, we can go from being okay to, we need ER crisis stabilization.

And as scary as it is, this is our life.

But I have to hold on to the hope of the good days.

And no matter what happens, we need to make every day the best.

♪ Don't worry ♪ ♪ About a thing ♪ ♪ 'Cause every little thing's gonna be all right ♪ That's all I know.

(laughing) ♪ Singer in a smokey room ♪ ♪ A smell of wine and cheap perfume ♪ ♪ For a smile they can share the night ♪ ♪ It goes on and on and on and on ♪ ♪ Strangers waitin' ♪ ♪ Up and down the boulevard ♪ ♪ Their shadows searchin' in the night ♪ ♪ Streetlights, people ♪ ♪ Livin' just to find emotion ♪ ♪ Hidin' somewhere in the night ♪ (rock music) (rock music continues) ♪ Don't stop believin' ♪ ♪ Hold on to that feelin' ♪ ♪ Streetlights, people ♪ ♪ Don't stop believin' ♪ ♪ Hold on to that feelin' ♪ ♪ Streetlights, people ♪ ♪ Don't stop ♪ (all clapping and cheering) (no audio) - [Announcer] For more information on this film and groups like The Penguin Project that empower children with disabilities through theater, visit freshfilms.org/ABLE.

(no audio) (no audio) (light music)