The spring musical is fast approaching with opening day on April 11. “Alice by Heart” is set in Great Britain during the London Blitz. Alice and her friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in the underground. To escape they travel into Wonderland and travel throughout the story. During their time in wonderland they run the main characters including the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. Alice uses wonderland as a way to escape Alfred’s tuberculosis quarantine and keep sports in the bunker up.
A performance of “Alice by Heart” is about 90 minutes in length so there is a lot to prepare. There are many challenges involved in coordinating and putting together a musical.
“The hardest part is combining singing dancing and acting. It’s really easy to focus on them individually but when you put them together it can be hard to get a good balance,” junior Maddy Steitz said.
“Alice by Heart” was first performed by the London Royal theatre. While it’s not well known for being a high school musical it is filled with messages about loss, grief and the power of imagination.
“Although it is not a musical that’s very popular and it’s not one that a lot of people have heard of It is a very poignant musical. … It’s going to be one of our best performances we’ve ever put on here. It’s going to be a really special one,” senior Abby Wiberg said.
It takes a lot of time and effort to put together a musical. They need every minute of the time they have to get ready for opening day on April 11.
“We’re rehearsing from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m then after spring break we switch to 2:30 o 7:30 p.m . The final week before opening we go from 2:30 to 9:00 p.m,” Steitz said.
Long rehearsals are hard but it takes the right group of people to preserve and get thought it. Having a great community and friend’s in theatre helps make it a collaborative fun production.
“It’s really exhausting, and it really pushes you to your limit and kind of past it too,” junior Gemma Wallace said.
Preparations for the show are going well and the theatre is confident they will be ready for opening day. One might think it is just another musical, but it is very unique especially when it comes to rehearsal.
“There’s a lot that we’re doing with this one that is different than musicals we have done in the past, because the musical numbers and acting go together so seamlessly you cant really have separate music and acting rehearsals… so it’s been really collaborative,” Wiberg said.
It takes a lot of effort and energy to put together a musical but the final performance makes it all worth it. The performance of “Alice by Heart” is sure to be unforgettable. Its meaningful messages will leave the audience captivated and wishing for more.
