Students at Imperial School are following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole this week.
The complete student body from grades one to 12 is immersing themselves in a Missoula Theatre Company musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland”. The kids are going to be studying under the direction of two trained actors/directors with the Montana-based touring company this week culminating in a dessert theatre performance of the musical at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Saturday at the Imperial Community Hall.
Carol Baade, a drama teacher at Imperial School, said this is the first time in the 17 years she has been involved with the annual school musical that they have brought in a touring company to help students put on the show. She said it should be a “great experience” for the students, as they’ll be able to find out everything that goes into putting on a professional production.
“It’s a really neat opportunity for the students because these are all professionals and they come and do workshops during the classes for the students and help put on the show and also involve the younger students,” said Baade, noting past musicals usually involved only the high school students. “We’ve had very successful dessert theatres in the past…but we thought we’d try something different to give our students a new opportunity.”
Ethan Park and Shelby Mariah Art, the two members of the Missoula Children’s Theatre Company that are spending the week in Imperial to help the students put on “Alice in Wonderland”, begin the production by holding auditions for the musical today at the Imperial Community Centre. The 50 to 60 students picked begin rehearsals later this evening and continue to practise for four-and-a-half hours each day before the performance on Saturday.
The students that are not cast in a role would be involved as assistants to the directors or help with stage crew work, lighting, sound or preparation and serving “Queen of Hearts Cherry Tarts” desserts. The Imperial School senior band is also performing at the show and Jeanne Knoblauch has been retained to accompany the musical on piano.
To read more please see the March 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.