San Gabriel High School’s Drama Club opened their doors to students and parents on Sept. 27 for Alice by Heart. This is the first of the two musicals that will be shown this school year. The musical reimagines Lowell Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through a contemporary lens. It takes place during World War II, following a young girl named Alice Spencer, who is in a bomb shelter, escaping the harsh realities of war. To escape these harsh realities, Alice reads her lover’s (Alfred) and her favorite book to cope. Alice encounters familiar characters from Wonderland, who embody her inner struggles and hopes. This adaptation not only pays homage to the original tale but also highlights the resilience of the human spirit in challenging times.
The musical blends various styles creating an emotionally charged atmosphere that enhances the narrative’s depth. The characters, including Caterpillar and Cheshire Cat, are used to reflect Alice’s journey of self-discovery and healing.
Actors and actresses only had a month to prepare for this show. The hard work they put in the musical shows the effort and time they dedicated to their craft. This is just one of the many shows that the amazing director and teacher at San Gabriel, Kelsey McNielly, will be putting out this year. Look forward to seeing the Drama Club’s spring musical, BeetleJuice.
After experiencing the show first hand, I believe that the show was an amazing production that made great use of the environment. For example, the team were able to create different scenery by making use of the items they had on hand. The way the music was presented was of high quality and showed that the performers had put in a lot of effort and hard work in this musical.
Alice by Heart was an outstanding performance where the actors knew how to position themselves for the whole performance. They had an audience from 3 sides of them meaning they had to be extremely cautious of how they stood. The lighting was phenomenal and added depth to the performance as it highlighted the emotions in the scenes.
Overall the performance was a well put together production by the San Gabriel High School’s Drama Club. There was a lot of thought and effort put into this musical adaptation Alice by Heart. Everything about the performance including the music, atmosphere, and actors played a really big role in making this possible. In addition, they had a very short amount of time to prepare this musical, and to put out something this astonishing is something that they should be proud of.
