The documentary "Go Penguins!" features a unique theatre program in northern Illinois.
It's the Children's Community Theatre Penguin Project.
Northern Illinois University professor Randy Caspersen and his students followed the production of “The Little Mermaid” a few years ago; with nearly 500 hours of footage to edit, the documentary is nearly ready for its debut.
Caspersen says people tend to only see the final product of shows.
“But there’s that whole process when they’re learning and growing and being together and learning from each other," he says, "and the amount of work, blood, sweat and tears that go on that you don’t see, that I really think is a whole other level of the story that we need to see.”
Joe King, with the Children’s Community Theatre, says teamwork drives the Penguin Project.
“You’re overcoming all kinds of little obstacles. Like, ‘How do you teach a blind child how to dance and do it in unison with everyone else, or how do you accommodate a kid with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair and incorporate them into the show in a meaningful way?’”
The documentary shows Sunday afternoon at the Egyptian Theatre.