The plays and musicals put on each year by the Rod Serling School of Fine Arts each year are always some of the most anticipated events on the school calendar each year, and this year is no different.
The high school students’ production of “Alice In Wonderland” will grace the stage at the Helen Foley Theatre on November 17 and 18. Before we get to that point, many weeks of hard, dedicated work for the students just got underway, and now the clock is ticking to show week.
The first week was all about getting familiar – with the script as well as with each other. The first two days were simply the cast reading through the script. There was little by way of fine-tuning how they delivered each line. That will come with time and practice.
“I’m constantly having the book in my hand,” says junior Madelyn Taylor, who will play Alice in the performance. ”I feel like with each separate line, I feel like I need to add ‘lost little girl’ as an emotion in the reading.”
The play is a rendition of the famous story that many people know, likely from the Disney movie, which the cast watched to end the week.
According to BHS theater teacher and the director of the BHS Fall play, Maggie Haines, what sets this play apart from others is its size. She notes some plays have as few as five actual parts, so doing a play with many, many parts that can accommodate the 40-50 students who are taking part this year is a huge advantage.
“I love seeing their growth,” Haines explains. “I love seeing their confidence grow as the couple months go by. And then when it’s over the sense of gratification they get from creating something from start to finish.”
Taylor has been in three other plays before this one, but this will be her first as the lead. Still, her favorite part of being in the plays has not changed.
“I’m so excited to be on stage with everyone else, I really do, and getting to be there with my friends.”