Merced Union High School District

For close to four months the El Capitan High Drama Club has poured everything they’ve had into preparing for their production of the musical Alice By Heart, which debuts with its first for four weekend shows on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the El Capitan High Theatre.

 

It’s been a student-led production from top to bottom as they’ve overseen the rehearsals, choreography, costumes, makeup and helped with the set construction. “I did the casting, and then the students took over everything else,” said ECHS Drama Club advisor Josh Cardoza. With opening night closing in the excitement, nervousness and all the other emotions that consume cast members are running wild.

 

“I'm very excited, because we put a lot of work into it, we’ve made a lot of sacrifices, and it was student taught,” said senior Violette Harrison,who plays the lead Alice. “So all of our choreography was taught by students, all of the hair and makeup was come up by students, all the costumes we picked out were picked out by the students. I think people will be blown away, considering it is a student-led production.”

“Alice By Heart” is a musical based on Alice in Wonderland but set in London during World War II instead of the fantasy land filled inhabited by bizarre characters like the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and Tweedledum and Tweedledee.  The story of Alice By Heart follows teenager Alice Spencer (Harrison) and her best friend Alfred, who is played by junior Landon Lynch, who are both hiding in a London underground shelter during the bombings. Alfred is suffering from tuberculosis and placed in quarantine. In an attempt to escape reality, Alice tries to retell Allice in Wonderland by memory and as she imagines the story, the people in the shelter transform into Wonderland characters. The show was written by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik,

 

“I know a lot of the students had a passion for Alice by Heart, we watched it, and we felt like it was just a brilliant show that did very well on Broadway as well,” Cardoza said. Lynch says choosing this show was a big undertaking but he hopes it pays off in the end. “I would say, as far as I have been here, this is by far the most ambitious show El Cap has put on,” Lynch said. “It is very intensive in all categories, vocally, it's intensive with the costumes and the set, I've put so many hours into just building random props that I'm just hoping are going to turn out right. It's very different from all of the other shows that El Cap has put on before. It's been a lot for everyone, but I think we can tackle it. It's been a huge undertaking, I'm very nervous and very excited at the possibility of pulling this off.”

 

Other roles include:  Gia Martinez Howell as Tabitha/Cheshire Cat, Skye McCloskey Floersch as Dodgy/Duchess, Jose Castillo as Dr. Butridge/King of Hearts, Kashua Her as  Angus/Caterpillar and Anahi Gomez-Ramirez as the Queen of Hearts.

There is a wide range of experience amongst the cast from students who have been a part of shows since they were eight years old at Merced Playhouse to first-time actors and actresses. The challenge of performing a musical didn’t scare off the cast. Many of them have performed musicals as part of productions at the Multicultural Arts Center of Merced Playhouse. “I look forward to it,” Harrison said. “I'm very big into musical theater. I've done a lot of things. I live in a rather musical household. Music has never been a challenge for me.”

 

McClockey Floersch choreographed most of the play, working with the 13 actors and 17 students who have helped put on the show. “I'm very excited,” she said. “We've been working really hard, and I just really hope it works out. It’s been a lot of work. We have to come to rehearsals every single day, we have to practice at home, we have to practice our lines. We’re still cleaning some stuff up but I think it’s going to be great.”

 

Even though Lynch has been part of seven or eight plays, including the lead Ponyboy in The Outsiders at Merced College, he still feels those opening night jitters. “I think everyone's nervous, that's something for me personally that never goes away,” he said. “Every show is a new show every time, it's not like you've done this a million times. There’s new energy, a new cast, new material. The experience helps you learn it faster, for sure, but there are nerves with every show.”

 

Shows are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday with an extra matinee show at 12:30 p.m on Sunday. Tickets are $10 regular, $7 for students with ASB cards and $5 for seniors, veterans, children under five.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.