THE WHITE RABBIT SKIPPED onto the stage clutching a gold pocket watch, and then all of Wonderland came out to sing:
“Oh Alice, dear, where have you been? So near, so far, or in between? What have you heard, what have you seen?”
STUDENTS PERFORM A SCENE DURING THE STS. SIMON AND JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S PERFORMANCE OF “ALICE IN WONDERLAND JR.” ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 6. PHOTOS BY SCOTT
SMELTZER/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic School presented Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” for two performances — one for students and one for parents — on May 6 in Coleman Hall. The show featured 31 students in grades three through eight retelling the iconic story of Alice falling down the rabbit hole and exploring the nonsensical world of Wonderland through song.
“It went amazing, and it was well beyond our wildest expectations this year,” said vice principal Erin Watson, who also served as choreographer.
The musical featured all of the beloved characters from Lewis Carroll’s stories: Alice (Norah Telles); small Alice (Sadie Green); tall Alice (Lila Evans); the Cheshire Cat (Violette Chavez, Charlotte Sandberg and Eilidh Watson); the White Rabbit (Scarlett Somes); the Caterpillar (Emilie Wilfert); the Mad Hatter (Elsie Guerin); and the Queen of Hearts (Liyana Malik).
This was only the Huntington Beach school’s second student production. Last year, the theater program started with a 30-minute production of “Seussical the Musical,” said music director Al Palencia, who also serves as children’s choir director of the parish.
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS TAKE CENTER STAGE DURING STS. SIMON AND JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S PERFORMANCE OF “ALICE IN WONDERLAND JR.”
“A lot of the performers returned, and this year, they came in with all the energy and just raw talent,” said Palencia. “Seeing what they brought today, I’m so happy with their performance.”
This year, students were encouraged to take ownership of the play through where students designed and created the sets, managed the props and helped plan behind the scenes.
The idea was to give them leadership opportunities, even to those who didn’t want to be onstage, Watson said.
She has seen students’ confidence — both on and off the stage — bloom.
“It’s giving them that confidence,” she said. “It’s OK to be on the stage. “It’s OK to speak in front of a group of people, and that’s the best part about musical theater, I think.”
The experience of playing the show’s main character, Alice, was scary at first, said Telles, 12, who originally auditioned for the role of the Caterpillar. The experience, though — the cast and crew have spent the last seven in months rehearsals — was so much more than just acting experience.
“It was nice making a lot of relationships with people,” Telles said. “I made a new best friend.”
Telles said it was their shared love of acting that connected them. But what the seventh grader loves about acting was hard for her to put into words.
“It brings a lot of joy to people, and I like seeing smiles on people’s faces,” she said.
Being onstage was nothing new for ballet dancer Claire Frazier, 11, but this was her first time acting. The fifth grader played Rose, one of the Flowers of the Golden Afternoon. Frazier said she likes being onstage and especially her character’s attitude.
“I like how sassy she is,” Frazier said. “It was pretty funny.”