playbill vip

Welcome to Agrabah, City of Enchantment!

Thank you for joining us for our first fully staged, fully costumed production at Special Care. We are truly honored to be here in this facility. The very first day of rehearsal, I stood in the lobby marveling at Special Care's values: "a family of staff, students, parents and supporters that welcomes one another with joy and love, providing each member of the community with HOPE and strength" and their vision of "a World where children with Special needs and typically developing children are recognized for their abilities, not disabilities...." Reading these statements left me wanting to leap and shout: "Yes, Yes, YES!!!" It is affirming to be able to do what we love best in a facility that not only shares our goals here at KidsAlive!, but has set the bar for our hopes for the world. 

This production marks a full 2 years since KidsAlive! first came into being with a mission to harness the power of musical theatre to inspire excellence in leadership and teamwork among our youth. Like Aladdin, we are never certain just where our next adventure will take us, but the horizons that have opened up before us on our magic carpet ride have been limitless, and we couldn't be more excited about the possibilities that the future holds.

Our Kaleidoscope program is one of those vistas that continues to unfold in ways that we could never have imagined. In two short years we have gone from including children with special needs in our audience, to finding ways to partner with them on the stage. These young people, our Gems, have opened our hearts and minds to a whole new world in the performing arts. A world in which labels lose their meaning.  A world where barriers dissolve. A world where we learn to respect the unique gifts of every young person that joins our cast. A world where we understand that every child has something valuable to share. A world where differences are a cause for celebration. 

The best part is, that whether you are able to watch the Saturday Kaleidoscope performance where our Gems take the leads, or one of our other two performances, you will have the opporunity to witness a group of children who have learned to stand side by side with others of different ages, different abilities, and various backgrounds to create something beautiful. Sure, they've put together a wonderful production that they can be proud of. Yet there is so much more. These children get it.  

Don't you dare close your eyes
Hold your breath it gets better

I'm like a shooting star,
I've come so far,
I can't go back to where I used to be.

My dearest hope for you, our audience, is that the joy and wonder that these children hold for life will shine out and fill your hearts to the brim, just as it has for us during each and every rehearsal.  

Thank you for letting us share our whole new world with you.