photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Actors practice parading out for their curtain call in Theatre Lawrence's Penguin Project production of "Alice in Wonderland Jr." on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Asher loves Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project shows. So much, she says, that she dropped another play she was going to be in to take part in this year’s Penguin Project performance of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.”

Theatre Lawrence is one of more than 50 organizations across the country that participate in The Penguin Project, a theater program for young people with special needs. This year’s show is this week, and all of the roles are played by youth ages 10 to 21 with disabilities, most of them partnered with peer mentors who help them in rehearsals and on stage.

In past years, Asher says she’s played a lot of villains in Penguin Project shows, like Ursula in the production of “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” but this year, she’s playing the title role of Alice, and she’s enjoying getting to do something different. She says the entire cast has done a great job.

“The ensemble has a part in this, we all have a part in this. We’re all in this together,” she says.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Asher, who plays Alice in Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.,” gets the finishing touch on her outfit on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

The “ensemble” in Wonderland has no shortage of interesting characters, of course – from the talking playing cards, to the White Rabbit who interrupts every other scene, to the Cheshire Cat (here played by multiple actors at once). Even Alice herself is played by multiple people – there’s Asher, the “big/medium Alice,” and then there’s a “small Alice” played by someone else when she shrinks down to a few inches tall.

Peyton and Tara, in fancy, wide-brimmed hats, are two of the vain flowers she meets while she’s tiny, the ones who don’t want Alice in the garden.

Both say they were a little bit nervous but excited for the show to open, and Tara says she told all her friends to come see it.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Flowers Peyton, left, and Tara, right, pose with their peer mentor, Jensen, center, before a rehearsal of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Beside them, dressed as a bumblebee, is their mentor, Jensen. She says the stars have practiced a lot at home to learn their parts, and that the mentors are mostly in the background.

“They’re really good,” she says. “… They all work really hard. It’s really heartwarming to see them working so hard.”

Emily Giles, Theatre Lawrence’s education director, says it takes some time for the actors and the mentors to get to know one another, and the goal is to pair people up with partners they get along with well.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Theatre Lawrence education director Emily Giles talks to the cast before a rehearsal of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Before Wednesday’s final dress rehearsal, Giles gives the cast one more pep talk. She tells them it’s a good thing that they’re feeling butterflies in their tummies, because it shows how much they care about their performance.

“What is it that your parents want to see the most?” she asks. “Faces,” some of the actors respond. “Your smiling faces!” Giles says.

Backstage, as actors get into their elaborate costumes, Tanya Lee is definitely looking forward to that. Her son, Connor, plays the March Hare.

“I like acting,” Connor says, and singing, too.

But Lee says he didn’t always have that chance before joining the Penguin Project. “This is the first thing we joined that Connor really got to shine in,” she says.

He got more than just a fun role — he also got “built-in friends” just as he was starting high school, Lee says. They discovered that his co-star Ryne, who plays the Mad Hatter, was actually their neighbor, less than a block away.

“They’re at each other’s houses, doing things at high school together, because of the connection they built here,” she says.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Connor, left, is the March Hare, and Ryne, right, is the Mad Hatter in Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.”

Connor has a mentor, too — Elliot, who doubles as the dormouse — and Ryne will be performing without one this year. They both enjoy their musical number in the show, “The Unbirthday Song,” and Ryne likes his Mad Hatter costume, a pastel patchwork suit jacket and a comically oversized pink bow tie, looking nothing like the character in the classic Disney film.

“It’s not like the basic Mad Hatter or anything,” he says.

Ryne has been in other Penguin Project shows, he says, mostly in funny roles — he was Olaf in “Frozen Jr.” and Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid Jr.” He’s done other shows outside of the Penguin Project, too, but “there’s other people who aren’t that nice in other shows.”

“The Penguin Project is fun to do because everyone is inclusive,” Ryne says.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

From left, Asher, as Alice, peer mentor Elliot, as the dormouse, Connor, as the March Hare, and Ryne, as the Mad Hatter, rehearse a scene from Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

At the very end of the show — and at the end of every rehearsal — the entire cast sings “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey. Giles says this has been part of the national Penguin Project since its beginnings in Peoria, Illinois, and the regular ritual of doing it at each practice is a great confidence booster for the actors.

“Every Penguin chapter, we do that after every practice,” Giles says. “And if we miss it, the kids let us know.”

For Lee, this is one of the most special parts of the show.

“Pure joy,” she says. “Pure joy. And I think every parent that sees that wants that for their kid.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

An audience of family members claps along as the cast of Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” sings and dances to “Don’t Stop Believin'” at the end of a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Theatre Lawrence does a Penguin Project production every year, usually starting in March. Rehearsals are two times a week, and families don’t have to pay for their child to participate. For more details, you can email youth@theatrelawrence.com.

And “Alice in Wonderland Jr.,” which is one act with no intermission, will run for three days this week: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, and Friday, July 10, and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 11. Tickets are available at theatrelawrence.com/penguin-project.

Lee says that parents who think their kids might enjoy being in a production should come out and see what it’s all about.

“Come to a performance, and there’s no way you can walk away and not see the impact,” she says.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Actors rehearse a scene from Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Actors rehearse a scene from Theatre Lawrence’s Penguin Project production of “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.