South Valley Civic Theatre brings an interpretation of Lewis
Carroll
’s classic tale of a curious, young girl who wanders through a
mysterious and magical wonderland to life as it presents the
children’s musical “Follow That Rabbit, The Wonderland Story”
starting tonight at the Community Playhouse. Everyone is excited
for opening night – the cast has memor
ized the lines, parents have finished every last detail on the
costumes and the stage glitters under the spotlight.
South Valley Civic Theatre brings an interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of a curious, young girl who wanders through a mysterious and magical wonderland to life as it presents the children’s musical “Follow That Rabbit, The Wonderland Story” starting tonight at the Community Playhouse.
Everyone is excited for opening night – the cast has memorized the lines, parents have finished every last detail on the costumes and the stage glitters under the spotlight.
While learning to sing and dance their way through Wonderland, the 36 young performers – ranging in age from 7 to 13 – had the chance to work with three veteran directors.
A few weeks into rehearsals, Carol Harris scrambled to find a replacement after her son was critically injured in a motorcycle accident. Fortunately, Betsy Andrade and Rosalind Farotte agreed to step in and direct the show.
“It was a little bit of a setback, but we’ve muddled through,” said Producer Becky Kaiser.
“Carol has it mapped out and has such a vision. (Betsy and Rosalind) didn’t know her vision, but they have made it easy,” explained producer Joy Reynolds. “It was actually a harder transition for the children.”
“At first it was confusing,” said Alexandra Mandel, 11, who plays the Cheshire Cat, “because the new directors didn’t know what Carol had done. But they are great directors and figured out everything really fast.”
Harris, who was also in charge of musical direction and choreography, has continued her role as piano accompanist.
Before the show was even cast, Harris sketched all the costumes and then chose fabrics and patterns with the help of Kaiser and Reynolds. These sketches, as well as Harris’ set of drawings, will be on display in the playhouse lobby during the run of the show.
According to Kaiser, the children’s production is designed to “give young performers the chance to be on stage.”
The children’s show is unique because it offers students an opportunity to play both leading roles and a wide variety of smaller parts. These productions tend to be a family affair, as everyone pitches in to help build the set, sew costumes and lend a hand.
This is Mandel’s 11th play and seventh with South Valley Civic Theatre. Her favorite part of doing theater is “seeing the audience out there for the first time and seeing it all come together.”
She has also enjoyed working in the new Playhouse .
“It’s terrific, absolutely fabulous. We get our own new dressing rooms and the sound, tech and lighting is great,” she said.
The show is the second SVCT production since the Playhouse in the Community Center complex opened.
