A start-up theater company in Glens Falls, N.Y., which focuses on inclusivity in front of and behind the scenes, has announced plans to mount its first musical production in April 2024.

The show is Snoopy!! (Original), and the group behind it, All Abilities Productions, is the brainchild of Andrew O’Rourke, co-founder and president, and a Glens Falls native with cerebral palsy. O’Rourke attends SUNY Empire State University and is pursuing a degree in theatrical directing with a concentration in management and performing arts. He describes himself as “an avid theater lover and differently abled individual” who started the company to include “anyone and everyone who would like to be involved in theater.”

The organization’s motto: “Where inclusivity and creativity meet.” Its mission statement notes that the theater group “is a community that includes and accepts people from all walks of life regardless of disability, mental or physical; race, religion, sexual orientation, and age.”

All Abilities Productions also hopes to open a performance arts center offering classes to people in the capital region. Company Managing Director Carol Durant, who’s a singer, poet and playwright, “said we should rent a space [to offer classes], and I said, ‘Are you crazy,'” O’Rourke told The Boost. But it took only a moment for him to realize the idea could have legs, O’Rourke added, so stay tuned!

Stay tuned as well for Snoopy!!. Currently, it’s being planned for April 26, 2024, and April 27, 2004, at the Charles R. Wood Theater in Glens Falls.

Because it takes a village, here’s a shout-out to the company’s other members: Theresa Kempf, co-founder; Dylan Lucia, executive artistic associate; and Amanda Taft, marketing director.