Here it is! The big blog post chronicling what has taken over our lives these past 7 weeks! Yes, we've rearranged our schedule, listened to the soundtrack 90 billion times, made sometimes as many as 4 trips to school each day, eaten dinner at wacky times, stayed up too late finishing homework, and even shed a few tears...but it was all absolutely, positively, categorically worth it! For the pride my girls feel in putting together a legit performance and the life lessons they gained in working on this with a cast of 35 others, we feel so blessed to have been a part of it and would do it all again in a second. We're hoping this is the start of a long happy career of participating in school drama productions for these little spot-light lovers!
So, while our extended family waits for the video (which our busy, frantic, juggling-15-hot-mics sound man warned me would be poor quality and take a long time to make) here are 100 pictures to tell the story. ;)
Getting ready! Delia loved every single thing about being Small Alice...expect this scratchy wig! We tried all different things to get it to be less torturous for my sensory girl, but in the end she just had to ACT like it didn't bother her.
Ella was thrilled to get flippy 60's style hair and fancy cat eye makeup.
The three lovely Cheshires that stayed on stage the entire time and hilariously narrated the whole story.
The play opens with all the characters in a childlike version of themselves playing at a park. Ella slept in her tree and "acted catlike" making aloof faces and grooming herself.
Alice complains in song about how boring books are, falls asleep, chases the white rabbit, falls into Wonderland and then encounters the little door and its silly door knob. Through the magic of special effects, Alice drinks some potion and out twirls Delia from behind the little door, making her Small Alice stage debut.
Alice can't get through the door without the key, though, so she has to retrieve it from her Cheshire sister's outstretched arms. After eating a cookie, Alice grows huge and then cries and cries and cries about how she'll never get in the door. A little sip of potion and Tall Alice shrinks back down to Small Alice who swims in the ocean of her tears...
And meets the Dodo Bird and his crew of lobsters! They have a caucus race to dry off Alice.
Eventually Small Alice meets the lovely flowers of the Golden Afternoon.
Though they look beautiful, they are super snooty and won't let Alice join their cool club.
She feels sad.
But, don't worry! Here comes the caterpillar, "your wonder of wonders, your miracle of miracles, your happy happy day!" She teaches Delia, uh Small Alice, a snappy tune that will make her forget all her problems.
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah!
Small Alice cheers up and Act One's curtain closes after this whole cast, show stopping song and dance number!
Act Two opens with Regular Sized Alice telling the Cheshires she has a cat at home too. They ask if her cat can do the amazing things they can do.
And then it's off to an Un-birthday/Mad Tea Party! We meet the Mad Hatter who cheats at a game, breaks the White Rabbit's clock and makes us all laugh.
Alice then makes her way to the Royal Court where the cards are painting the roses red. Ella, or Cheshire 1, is letting Alice know that the way to curry favor with the evil Queen of Hearts is to invite her to play croquet with upside down flamingos as mallets. The Queen says she's over that game and would rather play Simon Says.
Simon says, "Meow!"
After an intense game of Simon Says and a trial at the Royal Court, Alice is asked "WHO ARE YOU?!" to which she answers all the things she is not, all things she learned from meeting the various characters in Wonderland, and proclaims, "I'M ALICE!" which wakes her from a dream.
The play concludes and it's time for final bows-- all choreographed to the the play's show stopper, Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah.
On Closing Night, Ella was excited to make the thank you speech. She was poised and articulate and did a great job.
This is the girls' amazing director, Mrs. M. and here is something I posed about her on social media: "The curtain is closed and you've seen the million pictures, but I need to share just one more thing: our gratitude for Mrs. M. and everyone who made this marvelous musical come together. Some weeks my girls were at school for an additional 12 hours. I'm so grateful that all that time was spent under the direction of someone who cared about their personal character as much as the characters they played. Someone who taught them about being a leader, not just a lead. Someone who reminded them that "for whom much has been given, much is required" and how the use of their gifts glorified God." How great that the girls have yet another loving voice of truth speaking life lessons and shepherding their hearts!
Stage loving sisters!
Proud, proud, proud parents!
And just a few of the many pictures with friends. Above-- Ella with Megan, the high school co-director who is her mentor and hero (and who also stepped in at the last minute for a sick flower) and below-- Delia with her friend group.
And finally cast pictures, serious and dramatic!
Whew! Sorry for the long post and thanks for enduring to the end. Landing these parts and working so hard/giving so much to the success of this show will be core memories for my kids.
