Des Moines Playhouse Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kill Date: Oct. 16, 2022
Subject: The Des Moines Playhouse Penguin Project Presents Annie Jr
Photos available at https://www.dmplayhouse.com/events/penguin-project-annie-jr/
Contact: Lee Ann Bakros, Playhouse Marketing & Public Relations Director, Lbakros@dmplayhouse.com, 515-974-5358

The Des Moines Playhouse Penguin Project presents Annie Jr, Oct. 14-16, 2022. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com and by phone at 515-277-6261. Annie Jr is sponsored by Fareway, Lincoln Savings Bank, and Workspace.  

Everyone’s favorite redhead goes on her first adventure in this 60-minute version of the popular Broadway musical. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, Little Orphan Annie is determined to find the parents who left her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually finds a new home and family with billionaire Daddy Warbucks, his secretary Grace, and a lovable mutt named Sandy. Annie Jr is presented in the John Viars Theatre.

Penguin Project productions are unique because all the roles are filled by young artists with developmental disabilities including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, visual impairment, hearing impairment, and other neurological disorders. These artists are joined on stage by their peer mentors, youths of similar age without disabilities who have worked side-by-side with the artists through four months of rehearsals. The Penguin Project is a national program with 32 chapters in 16 states.

The Playhouse cast includes Elias Andersson, Joshua Baldwin, Maxwell Bird, DJ Brown, Lani Dirks, Amara Dunham, Indigo Ekhardt, Mattias Fiser, Elizabeth Xiao Janni, McKenna O’Meara, Daniel Pietig, Sabina Shelton, Tishon Smith, Robert Thacker, Stephen Togba, and Eli Zimmerman. The mentors include Corley Blackford, Emery Blackford, Madison Deyen, Cambria Dirks, Liz Francis, Aya Haidar, Kylie Halstead, Jackson Hamilton, Wyatt Hamilton, Lillian Krizer, Nathan Long, Joy Mielke, Julia Neighbors, Ingrid Oakley, Julia Richer, Jayne Stieler, Larryah Travis, Charlotte Turner, Gennie Weis, and Annie White. Annie Jr. is directed by Kim Van Haecke with music direction by Kersten Daubitz and choreography by Natalie Thomas. The program director is Annie Mielke.

The Playhouse mission is to create extraordinary, shared experiences through live theatre. The Playhouse vision is to be the home for artistic collaboration where any story can be told. Located at the 42nd Street exit of I-235, the theatre has presented a full season of shows since 1919 and also offers a wide variety of educational experiences including classes for ages 4 to adult, theatre trips to New York, and volunteer opportunities onstage and backstage.

For more information about The Playhouse and Annie Jr, visit dmplayhouse.com or call 515-277-6261.

Annie Jr Performances: Oct. 14-16, 2022
7:00 PM Friday and Saturday
2:00 PM Sunday (ASL interpretation provided at this performance)

Annie Jr Tickets 
$10 All Ages
To purchase: Dmplayhouse.com, 515-277-6261, or Des Moines Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St, Des Moines, IA 50312. Ticket office hours Noon-5:00 PM, Tuesdays-Fridays, and 90 minutes prior to shows.

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Book by Thomas Meehan

Music by Charles Strouse

Lyrics by Martin Charnin

Presented on Broadway by Mike Nichols

Originally Produced by Irwin Meyer, Stephen R. Friedman, Lewis Allen, Alvin Nederlander Associates Inc, The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Icarus Productions

Based on Little Orphan Annie ® By Permission of The Tribune Content Agency LLC

Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All materials supplied by MTI Shows www.mtishows.com