Friday Cast of "Alice"-Last Day of Auditions!

WOW This group ROCKS!  ALL of them are EXTREMELY TALENTED!  This means I'm making some of the most challenging casting decisions of my career!  The shows R Gonna B AMAZING!

Nathan and Sydney read a scene together as the King & Queen of Hearts.

Sydney reads a delightfully evil Queen, and Nathan plays around with different ideas for the "absent-minded King" character.

They had us rolling with laughter--Nathan's "King" was off the charts of absent-minded!

King: "Your Hair looks Lovely Today"  Queen:  "It does?"  King:  "Oh Yes"

Queen: "Well...It does EVERYDAY!!"

King:  "How true, my Queen... could we have a parade?"

Sydney was VERY professional, and did not break character until the scene was over.  Then, Nathan--the master of ad-libbing--took over with improv & we ALL fell into the giggles!

Here, we see Nathan on his knees, reading for Alice's little brother Layne, and reading for a "little" Queen of Hearts is Madison.

Madison can play EVIL just as well as she plays SWEET.  She easily brought Nathan's character to tears with her Sweetly Evil portrayal of the Queen.

Here is the whole group that read this scene together.  From left to Right, Brittany, Chloe & Bri Nicole read the Queen's mean daughters, the Princesses of Diamonds, Spades & Hearts.

I was believing that Nathan WAS actually scared of them!  Great reading by all!

They showed him no love at every turn, and it was pretty cool to see Nathan in such a vulnerable role for a change.  Usually, He's the one with the attitude!  (That goes for characters he's played AND in real life :)

LOVED IT!!!  She pats him on the head, then wipes her hand on him.  HAHAHA!

Joe & Sydney read for the Hatter & Alice--great job by both, I may add...

Joe helped me out with some fresh ideas for the Hatter character, which he adds a touch of "Ghetto" to in this reading.

YO, YO, YO--maybe a little "New York" would go with the "Hattah," ya know?  Hey, fogettaboutit!"

I like the face expression on Sydney that the camera caught here.  She was a solid "Alice" while Joe experimented with ideas for the Ghetto-Thug-Hatter-possibly from NYC.  :)

Brittany's "Hint of Southern Honey" accent went perfectly for her reading of the Cheshire Cat, and Madison read a lost "Alice" well alongside her.

Cheshire: "Honey, we're all mad here.  I'm mad, you're mad....Errbody here's mad!"

Alice:  "Wait a minute, I'm not mad!"

They finished the scene & turned to the camera for a smile!  Great job, ladies!!

Here's Chloe's reading for the Queen, and Nathan has been instructed to try a different approach with the King character this time...

Chloe was deeply dynamic in her reading as the Queen realizes her roses have been painted Red...

That is a smirk on her face, made of pure evil... IT was AWESOME!  Nathan is still planning his route of attack on which direction to take the King this time...

I think this "King" was a little bit of a "Queen" himself, which was both hilarious & surprising to Chloe as Nathan entered with a great big "Girlfriend!"  Chloe did a superb job of keeping her evil facade.

Now, Nathan decides to try to take the character into an even different direction, and Chloe remained poised as he again had the class rolling with laughter.

King:  "Can we have a parade?"

Queen: "NO!  How absurd!"

Great job working together, you two!  It is just a director's joy to watch creativity unfold at every turn!

King: "Oh, well.  Never Mind painting Roses Today Boys!"

Bri Nicole takes the stage, reading for the Queen, and I want to point out that her body language was BRILLIANTLY PRONOUNCED & changed according to the dynamics of the Queen's Building Anger.  Her hands make fists & rise slightly to her side, indicating her "noticing" & later "being ANGERED" that her flowers have been painted.  Subtle, yet excellent dynamic characterization choices as an actor.  Super Bri!

And, continuing with the ever-evolving character of the King, Joe takes a phone call as the King, who annoys the Queen even more with his new-found multi-media popularity.

Bri Nicole did a great job of listening to see "where Joe was going" with the King this time...

He then cracked us all up by "taking a call" in the middle of the scene.

King:  "Hold that thought.  I've gotta get this..."

King:  "Let me just text him back real quick..."

YEP.  We knew it was coming.... No Queen of Hearts would allow her King to use up her minutes on their combined cell phone plan.  Not even with roll-over.

Ah!  Now this is a twist that I bet you didn't see coming.  Nathan decided he wanted to read for the Queen.  Yes, The Queen.  A very MANLY Queen, which made for quite a delightful reading.

Brittany did a good job as the absent-minded King, but Nathan's Masculine and Demanding Portrayal of the Queen left no room for an emotional relationship between the two characters, since "she" definitely "wore the pants!"

What ANGER!  What COMPLEXITY!  What a Fierce and Exploding "Queen" Nathan played!

And now, back to "normality".  Brittany played a vibrantly energetic Queen, but you wouldn't want to get on her bad side!

Ummm...Nathan? That might be her "bad side."

There ya go.  Now you're back on her good side.  HAHAHA, :)

Uh-oh...The Queen is not happy...

Careful, there Nathan... you're talking to the Queen of Hearts...

I love this shot of Brittany's facial expression, which shows the "calm before the storm" of the Queen's disapproval of her flowers being painted red.  I never got a good shot of Brittany exploding with anger, but she NAILED IT!

I agreed to give Madison a shot at playing the Queen, and I just love how she pinpointed the body language to a "T."

A very sharply animated Queen, her moves were all very concise and added to the intimidating presence of her portrayal of the Queen of Hearts!

And a fun contrast to our evil little Queen, Joe surprised us all by choosing to play a "Depression-stricken" version of the King of Hearts, and it was HILARIOUS!!  What a creative guy, that Joe is!!

We all ROARED with laughter when Joe had to "take his antidepressant medication" in the middle of the scene.

That didn't phase our young Queen Madison, though!

She was just as evil as ever, regardless of the King's condition.

Which made his character fall deeper into his "depression."  IT WAS BRILLIANT!!  So much fun!

Brittany prepared both a solo audition piece for singing AND one to exhibit her dancing skills.  Um, WOW MUCH?!  :D

She brought to Director Erin Byrne's attention that she was only ONE of the experienced dancers in the class, and Director thought "Hmmmm..."

Brittany had choreographed her dance audition-piece by herself, so Director Erin Byrne has decided to put her skills and others with dance/choreography experience in the cast to good use! 

THEY'RE GOING TO BE THIS SHOW'S TEAM OF CHOREOGRAPHERS!

  

NOW I REALLY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SHOWS!         <3 Erin :)