7th Grader from Skokie Stars in Tellin' Tales Theatre's Six Stories Up in a Snowstorm at the Athenaeum Theatre

Can inspirational stories melt a snow beast’s heart? Find out in Tellin’ Tales Theatre’s winter mystery written and performed by middle school students - including Emily Buell of Skokie - 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 seven 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 like Emily Buell.

Emily Buell is a student at Oliver McCracken Middle School in Skokie. Tellin' Tales Theatre helps break down the barriers between those with and without disabilities. Emily said, "I love that we get to tell our own stories. A lot of times, people do not take kids seriously, but in Six Stories Up, we get to share our unique experiences and I love that." Emily's sister Celia Buell has also been involved with Tellin' Tales Theatre in the past and is working on masks and props for this production. In the photo above of cast and crew, Celia is second from left and Emily is 5th from left in the back row.

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.