Fairy tale has happy ending

PLEASANT GROVE — Erica Glenn doesn't go home after the last bell rings at school. She doesn't stay for an athletic-team practice or go to the mall with her friends, either.

Instead, the Pleasant Grove High School senior has made new friends at the Lindon Care and Training Center, a residential facility for people with mental and physical disabilities.

At the center, Glenn, who has performed since she was 8, spends her time urging others to take risks, show feelings and bask in applause as they stand center stage.

Glenn, who founded a performing-arts group for people at the center, said her latest effort was a huge challenge — writing and directing a musical for children with special needs.

"I've always loved theater and working with special-needs children and adults," said Glenn.

"I thought about how excited they were to do any kind of acting, and I thought that those kids should have the same opportunities I do."

Center officials were initially hesitant to allow the group to perform, she said, because they didn't know how people in the community would respond to such a production. The worries were for naught. The first production was well-received when the group performed at Utah County nursing homes.

Glenn gave the group a name — the Viking Entertainers — when they started working on productions in the fall.

"The kids were really excited about being in a musical," she said. "They love having visitors and the attention."

Glenn wrote the script and the music for the musical "Between the Lines," which was performed Friday in the Media Center at Pleasant Grove High.

"I knew we needed to use fairy tales the kids were familiar with," Glenn said. "I also knew that we would need something fun and catchy that wouldn't be too difficult for them to learn, and there just didn't seem to be a script that fit."

Glenn enlisted friends with a similar passion for the thespian arts and other teens who had worked in the classrooms for students with physical or mental disabilities.

"It's fun to see people who are so excited about life," said Kati Morton, 17. "Honestly, I've always been nervous around special-needs children, and working with them has broadened my horizons."

Another high school senior, Amber Gleason, who plans to major in special education at Utah State University next year, used sign language to teach words to a hearing-impaired girl. She also helped others learn their lines.

As a result, whenever meeting anyone new, disabled or not, "I see them as individuals now," she said, "and not how other people see them."

Trina Jarvis, a therapeutic recreation technician at the center, said Glenn's group was exceptional. Most people, Jarvis said, come once in a while. Few volunteer consistently.