What People Are Saying ...
Educators

Here is some of the feedback we have received from educators.

Maryville University

Dear Uppity Theatre Cast:
You gave a truly wonderfully outstanding performance at Maryville University on Monday, March 13, 2006.
You touched my heart and my mind and so I can only assume that everyone in attendance was touched in some way. So I want to give you one final applause on your performance and say thank you. Thank you for thinking of Maryville University. Thank you for enlightening our community. And thank you for the work that you do everyday that brings ability issues to light.

Sincerely,
Danielle J. Carter
Multicultural Programs
Maryville University

Glenridge Elementary School

KUDOS to all the performers for their excellent presentation of the DisAbility Project.  You delighted the audience with your spirit and determination.   We were also enriched by the thoughtful scenarios, the great singing and dancing, the rap, and the beautiful and positive closing words.    THANK YOU so much for "making this play happen!”   May you keep on performing for many more audiences and sharing this great work.  Continued good luck to all of you!

Sincerely,
Laura DuPont, Principal
Glenridge Elementary School
Clayton, MO 

The troupe did such an outstanding job today. You enlightened and delighted all of us, children and adults, with your stories, skits, talent, etc....

Thank you so much for sharing your performance with us at Glenridge. We are all a lot richer because of it.

Kudos to everyone, whether it be the performers, director, guest artists or the people who work in the office to manage all of the logistics.  I have the deepest respect and admiration for the important work you do.

Roz Dubinsky
Teacher, Glenridge School
Glenridge Elementary School

Girl Scouts

Twelve St. Louis area Girl Scout troops were treated to a performance by That Uppity Theatre Company’s DisAbility Project at Maryville University’s auditorium last December.  The scouts brought friends and family members to a performance designed for Brownies and Junior Scouts, ages 6-11, that took place on December 10.  The DP delighted over 120 scouts and troop leaders alike:

“I wanted to let you know the girls really enjoyed the show.  The performance kept the girls’ attention and was very well done… I would definitely recommend the DisAbility Project to others and encourage other Girl Scout Troops to attend a show in the future.”

--Rene Lucas, co-leader of Junior Troop 916

The project hopes to make this performance for the scouts an annual event, reinforcing the troops’ badge work as the girls earn their Disability Awareness Patches.  In honor of our premiere year entertaining and educating area scouts, Shannon Pantukhoff, Program Manager of the Girl Scout Council of Greater St. Louis, created charming patches for The DP and distributed them to not only the girls in attendance but to Uppity and its ensemble members as well! 

The DisAbility Project would like to acknowledge the energy and commitment put forth by Shannon Pantukhoff and Kathy Dabrowski, both associated with the Council, for making this performance possible.  We are looking forward to many more years of partnership. 

Kirkwood High School

Bravo for your troupe! Thanks for giving us the chance to see and hear you. Best wishes in your attempt to reach every high school in Missouri. Our students and staff members need to see you.

- Franklin S. McCallie -
Principal
 

St. Charles County Community College

Thank you so much for the wonderful production you provided at the Direct Support Professionals Conference of St. Charles County. You made the audience more aware of the importance of their roles, as Direct Support Professionals, play in the lives of people with disabilities.

Keep up the wonderful work. The DisAbility Project is making an impact in the St. Louis area. I look forward to seeing you back at St. Charles County Community College in the near future.

Enthusiastically,
- Sherrill Wayland, MS -
Inclusion and Training Specialist
 

New City School

I am writing to commend the DisAbility Project for its work with our fourth graders. The performance which your troupe did for our kids provided and excellent introduction for the month-long study of disabilities. The vignettes gave the students clear examples of situations faced by folks with a variety of disabilities. These “stories” helped the students to develop an appreciation for the frustrations, obstacles and successes that make life so different, yet similar. I know you made some modifications in the performance to fit the ages of our students; the results were definitely age-appropriate. In addition, the study guide was helpful to teachers and students.

Finally, the opportunity for our students to speak with the troupe’s actors and actresses was also invaluable. Here again, the students could relate the actors’ and actresses’ experiences to their own lives. The conversations were wonderful!

We are already looking forward to doing this again next year. Thanks for all the work you and your troupe put into this effort.

- Barbara James Thompson -
Assistant Director, Family Support
 

Washington University, School of Medicine, Program in Occupational Therapy

Thank you so much for bringing your group to the Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy last month. My students were deeply moved by the entire program. I don’t think many of them had seen, or even thought about, many of the issues that your group brought forth — dancing in a wheelchair, sexuality, personal pain and jubilation from life — it truly opened their eyes. WE are very fortunate that you were able to bring the group to our Program, and hope that this can be an annual event. Next year I hope, if we are able to have a repeat performance, that Fran Cohen can be in attendance, as she has been a vital force in your program as well as ours.

Thanks again for a wonderful program.

- Donna Whitehouse, MHA, OTR/L -
Coordinator of Student Clinical and Professional Development
 

Kennard Classical Academy

"A+! They (the performers) showed their ability to be a contributing part of our society. They showed life as 'a glass half-full, not half empty!' Best was their ability to relate to the fourth grade audience with fun and confidence. When can you come to our school?"

- Harry Pickup -
Kennard Classical Academy
 

Athena Elementary School

"It was excellent. I learned to see situations through the eyes of the performers. The best part of the performance was including the students in the production and your interaction with them. We are definitely looking forward to you coming to our school."

- Bonnie Riefer -
Athena Elementary School 
 

What People Are Saying ...
Audiences ~ Educators ~ Participants