In the fall of 1997, The Rainbow Players began performing together through a program, “Open Arms”, to support community inclusion and “naturally occurring friendships”. The group spanned the ages of 16-44, from high school special education programs along with other adult participants from the local area. Matched with a “non-disabled” peer, they joined once a month at an Open Mic Cabaret to tell stories, sing songs, dance and recite theatrical passages from memory.
All of the sudden, from being on the outside of society, bullied and made fun of, on the fringe in special education classrooms, they were being applauded and cheered. They glowed and stood taller, or looked up with a new hope in their eyes. The range of disability labels include Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Asperger’s Autism, head injuries and Learning Disabilities due to various causes. Here, on stage, at a microphone, the labels drop away.
Ezzell Floraniña then offered theater classes in the fall of 1999, which soon became the seed for the first performance: “April Follies” (April, 2000).
