Like every mom, Sam wanted to stand up and applaud as she watched her child’s dreams come true.

So she made it happen.

It began when her son, Christopher, looked at her and said: “When is it going to be my turn on the stage?”

Sam went looking for a theater organization where Christopher – then in his 20s – and other actors who face cognitive or physical limitations could have their moment in the spotlight.

She couldn’t find it.

So, she rolled up her sleeves and founded one.

Now, two decades later, The Detour Company Theatre in Phoenix is home to approximately 80 actors who are learning to channel everything from Shrek to Shakespeare – and making the community jump to their feet in appreciation.

Thinking about a detour in a new way

“I think everybody who walks this earth deserves to be on stage. If that’s their dream, they deserve to have that opportunity,” says Sam, who (like other rock stars) goes by a single name. “My job is to help those dreams come true.”

Detour, a nonprofit organization, provides arts opportunities to people who are blind or deaf, those with Down syndrome or autism, and to those who – like Christopher – have brain damage.

Since its founding in 2003, Detour Company Theatre has grown into a community program that offers everything from beginning acting classes to a traveling group. Sam, who serves as artistic director, and other staffers develop classes and workshops tailored to participants’ interests.

The Main Stage troupe performs in the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, where every seat is filled at their semiannual productions, which have included everything from “Legally Blonde: The Musical” to “Beauty and the Beast.” In June, the group will perform the ABBA-inspired musical “Mamma Mia!”

The traveling troupe – Detour on Tour – allows veteran actors to take Detour on the road to community organizations throughout the area, spreading the word about how people of all abilities can succeed and find joy in the arts.

Theater for everyone

The organization relies on volunteers to lend a hand with costume, sets, props and coaching.

Whataburger is proud to be a community partner with Detour Company Theatre, supporting the group’s productions since 2016.

“We want to do everything we can to enhance success,” Sam says. “Things that we do without thinking about them are really tough for my actors.”

For some actors, walking up a step or saying a word might be a complicated process. A blind actor might need coaches to count steps to center stage so she can sing and be independent. Behind-the-scenes crews might need to find just the right word for an actor with minimal speech.

“Detours are those things in our lives that force us to slow down. They force us to get to the same destination but through a different path,” Sam says. “And sometimes they give us something wonderfully new to think about because we have to take a breath and really live in the now.”

Last year, almost 2 million people came out to share in the excitement of Major League Baseball’s Cactus League Spring Training in Phoenix, Ariz.

And while fans are there for the baseball – there are more than 250 games in the area in just a few weeks – quite a few make sure to stop in at Whataburger.

Brian Clute grew to love Whataburger when he was a college student in Arizona, where his dad still lives.

Now, he and his son, Thomas, live in Camas, Wash. – without a Whataburger in sight. So when they came down to Arizona for Spring Training and a visit with Thomas' grandfather this year, Brian made sure all three generations stopped in for some Whataburger.

“I’m here with my dad and my son to watch some Spring Training and eat some Whataburgers,” he says.

Fueling Up

Whataburger has been part of the Phoenix landscape since 1962, and there is a restaurant less than a mile from Tempe Diablo stadium, which means the store is often jammed with baseball-hat-wearing fans enjoying a meal together before or after a game – not to mention players who stop in to fuel up.

Sometimes the Family Members working at the restaurant get a little star struck – and sometimes their own families do. “We have the players coming in before and after they play,” says Deatrice Burden, who works at the restaurant by the stadium. “My son, Isiah, thinks it’s cool. He’s 10, and he’s like ‘Can I come to work with you today to see the baseball players?’ “

At the Game

On the field, Whataburger is part of the excitement too, sponsoring teams and setting up booths at games to pass out coupons and share in the fun with fans.

“It’s great for us to be a part of it all,” says Haley Proulx, a brand development coordinator for Whataburger. “We’re baseball fans too, so being out at the games – connecting with our fans there – it’s such an important way for us to be able to give back to the community.”