Northside Prep 9th Grader Stars in Tellin' Tales Theatre's Six Stories Up in a Snowstorm at Athenaeum Theatre

Can inspirational stories melt a snow beast's heart? Find out in Tellin' Tales Theatre's winter mystery written and performed by five middle school and two high school students - including Padraig Lally, a student at Northside College Prep - and their adult mentors with and without disabilities. The show runs weekends Dec. 9 - Dec. 18 at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.athenaeumtheatre.org.

Six Stories Up in a Snowstorm finds kids on an adaptive ski trip in the mountains of Utah haunted by an abominable snow beast. They must figure out how to melt his heart in order to solve the mystery that has darkened the chalet for ten years. The result is a hilarious and often moving musical whodunit peppered with personal stories of overcoming difference told by students and adults with cerebral palsy, blindness, dwarfism and autism, as well as their non-disabled peers.

Padraig Lally is a 9th grader at Northside College Prep and has a disability. He is impressed that Tellin' Tales Theatre helps break down the barriers between those with and without disabilities which allows him to perform in this play with his friend Armando Carlo IV, who does not have a disability. Armando is in 9th grade at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Their mentor and fellow writer-performer in Six Stories Up in a Snowstorm is Matthew Kopp. In the photo above, the three men are shown in the top row at the far right side.

About the Tellin' Tales Theatre Mentoring Program:

Six Stories Up is an annual mentoring program developed by Tellin' Tales Theatre where middle school children and their mentors write and star in a full-length play with the theme changing every year. This year's Six Stories Up in a Snowstorm is the final production of Tellin' Tales Theatre's 20th anniversary season. In August, storytellers were paired with middle school students with and without disabilities. Each team was given the mission to explore overcoming difference in their lives. In early September, mentors and their apprentices came together to link the six vignettes and draft a final script. All participants will perform Six Stories up in a Snowstorm under the direction of Artistic Director Tekki Lomnicki, assisted by Sue Nunamaker and Kayden Byard. See more about Tellin' Tales Theatre at www.tellintalestheatre.org

About the Cast and Crew:

The cast and production team of Six Stories in a Snowstorm is an exciting mix of ethnicity and ability. Mentors include Bill Drudge, Matthew Kopp, Tekki Lomnicki, Rosemary Postula, Tammy Rozofsky and Ben Saylor. Apprentices include Emily Buell, Armando Carlo IV, Serenity Deida, Paidraig Lally, Josafat Oviedo, Oliver Reich and Aihua Sprecher. Carl Ulaszek spearheads set design; Matthew Wycislak and Celia Buell design masks and props; and composer Chris Errera creates the original score.