The Great Work of Your Life Interview with The Penguin Project
The Penguin Project
Andrew Morgan, M.D., (https://penguinproject.org/our-founder/) and Nora Paine, empower children and adults with special needs through theatre shows performed throughout the US, including my hometown of Tampa, Florida!
A fellowship-trained developmental pediatrician, Dr. Morgan is the co-founder and director of The Penguin Project (https://penguinproject.org/). He’s been on the academic faculty at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria since 1981 and is currently professor emeritus of clinical pediatrics there.
A practicing clinician, Dr. Morgan has provided diagnosis and treatment for thousands of children with developmental disabilities including children with cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, genetic disorders and ADHD.
Dr. Morgan also has been actively involved in community theater for more than 30 years as a performer, choreographer, and director. Twenty years ago, he combined his professional expertise and his passion for theater to create the Penguin Project, a community theater program featuring young actors with special needs working in partnership with peer mentors.
The Penguin Project has been replicated in 60 locations in 21 states, including Tampa, Florida, where Nora Paine has been a stage manager, production manager and director for almost 50 productions at New Tampa Players since 2008.
While Paine always feels most at home backstage as a stage manager, her heart is the Penguin Project and Ampersand Theatre (https://www.newtampaplayers.org/ampersand-theatre), a theater program for adults with disabilities. New Tampa Players became the first replication site in Florida for the Penguin Project in 2019. Paine directed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in April 2024.
Transcript of the interview
A fellowship-trained developmental pediatrician, Dr. Morgan is the co-founder and director of The Penguin Project (https://penguinproject.org/). He’s been on the academic faculty at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria since 1981 and is currently professor emeritus of clinical pediatrics there.
A practicing clinician, Dr. Morgan has provided diagnosis and treatment for thousands of children with developmental disabilities including children with cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, genetic disorders and ADHD.
Dr. Morgan also has been actively involved in community theater for more than 30 years as a performer, choreographer, and director. Twenty years ago, he combined his professional expertise and his passion for theater to create the Penguin Project, a community theater program featuring young actors with special needs working in partnership with peer mentors.
The Penguin Project has been replicated in 60 locations in 21 states, including Tampa, Florida, where Nora Paine has been a stage manager, production manager and director for almost 50 productions at New Tampa Players since 2008.
While Paine always feels most at home backstage as a stage manager, her heart is the Penguin Project and Ampersand Theatre (https://www.newtampaplayers.org/ampersand-theatre), a theater program for adults with disabilities. New Tampa Players became the first replication site in Florida for the Penguin Project in 2019. Paine directed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in April 2024.
Transcript of the interview
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