Published in the August 3, 2018 edition
By GAIL LOWE
WAKEFIELD — If you haven’t seen Wakefield Repertory Theatre’s (WRT) stage performance of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” it’s not too late.
Performances started Thursday night, Aug. 2 and will continue tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 4 at 1 and 7:30 p.m. inside the auditorium at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, 350 Lynn Fells Parkway Melrose.
A ticket ($15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children under 18) will guarantee an audio and visual treat.
Cast members have been hard at work learning lyrics, lines and dance for the past six weeks and it shows.
The acting and dancing (from tap to tango), rhyming couplets, creative wordplay, sweet vocals accompanied by piano and drum and occasionally trombone (for sound effects) will keep all eyes rooted to the stage.
CAST pointing to Alice (Isabelle Camuso). (Deb Willis Bry Photo)
Said WRT Artistic Director Eric Langmeyer about the musical: “It’s rare to have Carroll and Charlie Chaplin collide in a musical on stage, but they have offered the students a chance to learn to think about the age-old advice from the Cheshire Cat: “Everything is funny if you can laugh at it.”
Langmeyer said that the young performers have been studying the art of comedy and improvisation this summer.
“They have learned that the first rule of improvisation is saying “yes, and . . . ,” meaning that anyone’s contribution to the group discussion is accepted without judgment,” he said. “In rehearsal, we always talk about the four C’s of improv: Creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.”
To persuade students to abandon their fear of mistakes, Langmeyer insists on unconditional support to all answers.
“Then, we work to build trust among the group and invite risk-taking,” he noted. “Once we have confidence in our ideas and in our teammates, we can free ourselves up to have fun.”
Artistic Director Langmeyer, his Assistant Director Theo Cheever and staff are great with the kids,” said Deb Willis Bry, mother of cast member Erin Bry. “They have amazing patience with the kids as well as the parents. They really work through and guide kids, and it really builds confidence that will last a lifetime. We’re very lucky to have people and a group like WRT.”
All the usual characters — dressed in colorful, inventive costumes — appear throughout the two-act performance, from Alice (Isabella Camuso) to Tweedle Dee (Teagan Brackett) and Tweedle Dum (Charlotte Hill). There’s also White Rabbit (Mollie Steinhoff), Queen of Hearts (Reagan Cleversey), Cheshire Cat (Olivia Frakt), Caterpillar (Lucy Spry), Dancing Butterfly (Lily Sallee) and many others.
Cast members from Wakefield are Brackett, Cleversea, Sallee, Spry, Zachariah Baumhardt, Thomas Berinato, Erin Bry, Ellie Butler, Isabella Camuso, Charlotte Hill, Kevin Lewis, Theo Lyle, and Molly Wieneke.
Cast members from Melrose are Frakt, Rosie Egan, Olivia Frakt, Luke Kenawell, Clio Moock, Elsa Moock, Freya Moran-Olmstead, Seamus Moran-Olmstea, Kaylee Sanford, Bennett Serisky and Zoe Vandervelde. Cast from other towns are Sophia DiTonno and Mollie Steinhoff from Tewksbury and Harry Ford from Malden.
Musicians are Madi Hyde on piano and Joseph Boulus with Hannah Pariseau conducting. Choreography by Noa Barankin and costume design by Elvira Schoenth and production management by Elaine Appleton.
The Prince Street Players Ltd. Production of “Alice in Wonderland” and adapted from the book by Lewis Carroll Adaptation, book and lyrics by Jim Eiler, music by Jim Eiler and Jeanne Bargy.
