SANTEE, Calif. — A new production of Newsies: The Musical runs in Santee from May 10-19. In this Zevely Zone, I previewed the production from the Sonrise Church. "It fills my heart with joy," said Chris Rubio who createdin 2008 for a very personal reason."I have a brother who is special needs, he is 42 now. He has autism," said Chris who wanted to create a space where everyone was welcome.
Arms Wide Open is offering a new program called INSPIRE that puts performers with and without disabilities side by side. Actor Michael Mercadante joined this production with his parents."I think they are doing pretty good," said Michael. As the actors lined up to shoot the promos for our segment, the entire cast stopped to demand we wait for Caleb Norling to have time to join them on stage.