Fri. Advanced Class "Alice" 1st Rehearsal a WILD SUCCESS!

This is Joe, from the Friday class, with an "Ace of Hearts" costume on.  We were thinking these simple-to-make costumes would be great 4 the show! (Well, maybe not the head-pieces, but Joe was a sport and put it on anyway 4 me :)  He's got a big heart, that kid--about as big as the one on his head in this picture :)

Bronwyn (Left) and Chloe (right) read a great scene together as "Alice" & the "Cheshire Cat," and Honey Chile, you couldn't have fit more Southern attitude-meets British confusion on that stage!  Great job, girls!

Amber (left) had to keep a straight face while Alex (center) & Nathan (right) literally ran circles around her during this reading of a Tea Party Scene.  Good times :)

Bri Nicole (Left) read a perfectly lost & hurried "Alice" who meets the "Mad Hatter" in this scene, read by the always animated and never predictable Joe.

Here, we have a delightful scene read by Julia (Left), and from left to right: Kolin, Alex & Nathan.  Note:  It was Alex's Birthday that day, and the combined voices of the entire cast sounded AMAZING singing "Happy Birthday" to him at the end of class :)  YAY!  Super-Happy Director Moment!

From Left to Right, Madison, Sydney, Bronwyn & Chloe did a phenomenal job reading this scene when Alice's little sister meets the Mean group of Princesses... I only wish I'd been able to get better pictures of Madison, Sydney & Deandra's later reading of the 3 Princesses--it had all the attitude in the world!  My camera-phone just wasn't cooperating. :(

And here's Joe & Julia, reading a scene together.  As you can see from Julia's face, Joe is hard to predict as an actor.  That's what makes him so much fun to work with!

You have to give him plenty of space... His spontaneity knows no boundaries!

And speaking of working with spontaneity & knowing no boundaries, here is a blurry Nathan falling onto the floor in reaction to the Queen ordering "Off with their heads!"

This is just before Nathan fell to the floor in tears, and we see Kolin on his knees, accusing the others of painting the Queen's Roses Red.  "Not me, my queen! It was the Three!"

Nathan, master of "ad-libs," Nathan told the Queen that he was actually painting the Roses Blue, so he was most definitely totally & completely innocent of any crime, what-so-ever.

Here's a great shot of the Anger that the Queen of Hearts can bellow out--Julia did a thunderous reading of her majesty.

Long-time pals Kolin & Amber work so well together as they've known each other since 3rd grade.  Amber looks as if she frightened Kolin a bit during this scene reading, doesn't she? It was wonderful to watch!

It made for a realistic twist on the King of Hearts relationship to the Queen.  Don't let that skirt fool ya, she wears the pants!

Ah, here's Joe again, falling all over the floor with a different spin on a half-sized, very clumsy Mad Hatter.

...Who had the balance and grace of Humpty Dumpty...

...And the height of, well, about half of an "Alice," read by Julia.

He could barely see out from under his (as he imagined) "over-sized" hat, the poor, shrinking Hatter.

"On behalf of Madness, I welcome you to Wonderland!"

Kolin took a more traditional, gentlemanly route with the Hatter, although he spiced it up with delightful Madness here & there, including a bell kick and some maniacal laughter that tickled us all!

And I must say, Bri Nicole read well for all the parts!  From the New-York style Cheshire Cat to the innocent Alice, her diverse and dynamic characterization skills were top-of-the-class!

Here's an appropriately nervous Bronwyn (Left) reacting to Brittany's HUGELY Scary reading of the Queen of Hearts.  She set the stage on fire with her thunder!

Brittany also made sure to add that special dash of madness to her characterization of the Queen.

It was fun to watch her turn Nathan into a shriveling mess, just by inching closer to him...

Soon, they were all begging to keep their heads, and Britttany played it super-cool... then turned straight COLD & ordered their heads cut off!  An excellent reading, and wonderful interaction by fellow cast members (from Left to Right) Kolin, Nathan, Alex & Sydney, who begged for their lives, to no avail. 

I don't think Amber (Right) saw this outburst coming from Bri Nicole's reading of the Wicked Queen, and it was wonderful to watch one powerful actress scare the daylights out of another powerful actress, and they both kept character & continued the scene like champs!  :)  Happy Director Moment!!

I liked Amber's (Left, on her knees) version of the "King of Hearts" character--it was delightfully blubbering & hard to understand, which was how I'd pictured it, but with better ad-libbing!

Good thing Adam Gavin was there!--his arm & camera viewer are shown on the Right of this shot.   He was Filming just about every minute of the fun!  Some of the videos have already been posted to theatrikids YOUTUBE channel!  Have you subscribed yet?  Well, if not--you're missing all the action!  Check out http://youtube.com/theatrikids NOW & SUBSCRIBE!

 

By the time it was Bri Nicole's turn to read for the Queen, Sydney (sneaking from the Left) & the Boys (Left to Right: Kolin, Nathan & Alex) had performed this scene so many times, it must've felt like a 6-week run on Broadway.  Bri Nicole's introverted and quiet introduction into this scene, as she, the Queen, discovers her flowers painted, was all the more ominous as they all cried and scattered around her, waiting for the worst...

CARD: "Not me, the Three!"  QUEEN: "Oh, you?"  CARD: "No! Two!"

Hmmmm.... the Queen has them stirring with antici............pation!

"He's to blame! The Ace! The Ace!"

"Not me, your grace!"

By the time Sydney (Center) speaks, it looks like the Queen almost believes them... Maybe she'll be nice and spare their lives!

Yes, perhaps she won't explode with fury and say...

"OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!"  Oh, she did... Nathan straight fainted, DSC.  Nice.

And lastly, the lovely Deandra models every costume piece I had brought with me that day, with the exception of perhaps 1 or 2 little, unnecessary items.  I mean, 2 hats is plenty, right?  Or should she try for 3 or 4?  Whatever makes her smile :)

Seriously, my camera-phone couldn't handle all the excitement, and many of the pictures didn't turn out. SO... please check out Theatrikids YOU TUBE Channel for more footage!

Do it now!  Before the Queen Discovers you painting her flowers instead of watching us on Youtube!  Hurry! :p

2nd Rehearsal of "Alice" ROCKED!

Christopher (Left) and Logan (Right) Worked extremely well together and shared MANY ideas for the script with Director Erin Byrne!

Director Erin Byrne (Far Left) assisted the actors in this scene about Alice's Little Brother, played by Jackson (Left) meeting the 3 Princesses (from Left to Right, Shelby, Amber & Alivia)

Amber (center, with arms up) was hard for the camera to catch, but her antics were hilarious!

Here, we see actors (from Left to Right: Brendan, Logan, Christopher & Chloe) reading a scene where the Queen of Hearts catches her "playing card-servants" painting her roses red.

Chloe was a comical and insanely scary "Queen of Hearts," and the boys in the scene didn't know whether to laugh or run away!

Uh-oh!  Nowhere left to run or hide from this mean Queen!

As we see here, Chloe is actually a very nice young lady, and her reading of the Scary Queen was pure Acting, at its finest!

This was a GREAT reading of Alice meeting the Cheshire Cat done by Kaley (Left) and Katie (Right).

They both displayed tremendous ATTITUDE with their roles, and I'm thinking both girls can EASILY play a "DIVA" very well!

And speaking of playing the part of a "Diva" well, here we see Mr. Kolin P. in full Cheshire Cat Attire, who was asked by director Erin Byrne to play the Diva Cheshire Cat so we could all "see how it's done!" 

We couldn't quite capture the magic of it all, but Kolin (Left) read a FABULOUS Cheshire Cat with all the Diva attitude in the world.  Partnered with him (Right) is Sydney, who read an extremely proper "Alice" and did not break character despite Kolin's wild antics.

Kolin (left) had to giggle a little, and who can blame him, but Sydney held the scene together.  After the reading, Kolin marched right up to Director Erin Byrne and said, "YOU OWE ME!"  Dually noted, dear Kolin.  Great job!

This scene, although read VERY well by (from Left to Right) Amber, Kolin & Kaley, will likely be cut from the final script.  It was part of the tea party, and they could hardly stay in character while entertaining us with their portrayals.  

Sydney (Left) and Kaley (Right) pose for a hug.

THESE GUYS WERE DOWNRIGHT HILARIOUS!!  From Left to Right, Brendan, Christopher & Jackson read this funny tea party scene & got a HUGE response from the audience!  Great Job, Guys!

"Clean Cup!  Move Down!"  And they all change seats.  HAHAHAHA!  Too funny!

Here, Director Erin Byrne (Left) is caught in a funny moment of "Hmmm" while Logan (center) and Katie (Right) read the same funny Tea Party scene as the 3 boys listed above.  Again, HUGE audience response!

MAD HATTER:  "I've Got a Wonderful Idea!" MARCH HARE:  "What is it?"  HATTER: "Let's change the subject!"

Shelby (right) EXPLODED with stage presence as the Diva Cheshire Cat!  She is pictured here with Chloe (center) and Alivia (right).

A cute showing of "helping your fellow cast members out," Chloe (center) helped the girls with the difficult words in the script.  Alivia (Right) did a wonderful reading of "Alice!"

Please FOLLOW OUR BLOG for more exciting updates!  

DON'T MISS THE SHOWS of "Alice & the Lonely Hearts Club Band" JAN. 7-8 at THE BOYD VANCE THEATER!  Visit THEATRIKIDS.COM for details!

1st Rehearsal of "Alice & The Lonely Hearts Club Band"

1st  Day of "Alice & The Lonely Hearts Club Band" Rehearsals Were a Success!!  WOW-what a STRONG group of performers!

Bronwyn read a frightening Queen of Hearts in this scene with (from left to right) Kolin, Joe, Bronwyn and Chloe there in the back to the far right.

Kaley getting into character for a very dramatic and silly role.  Not a big stretch for this talented starlet! :)

Here, we have a scene that was read well by these girls, but we all agreed it probably won't make the final cut of the script.  From left to right, pictured are: Deandra, Sydney, Kaley & Taylor.

"He did it, your majesty!"

"No, HE is to blame, my Queen!"

"ENOUGH has been said!  OFF with BOTH of your HEADS!"

Chloe (left) and Bronwyn (right) worked so well together, you'd think they'd been friends for years!

Their comedic timing together was perfect, although this will be the first Theatrikids production they've worked on together.

See what I mean?  They had us rolling on the floor with laughter!

Speaking of having us rolling on the floor with laughter...Is it obvious that these 2 "Veteran" Theatrikids students (Kolin on left, Joe right) have worked together before? :)

Kolin (left) appeared as "Dewey Finn" and "Theo" in Theatrikids' "School of Rock-The Musical!" while Joe was the very animated "Spyder, " or as he often said, "Spyderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"  Chloe did a great job not breaking character to laugh at this comedic duo when they read this scene.

Veteran Theatrikids' Students Kaley (left) & Taylor (right) love working together, as we can see here :) Awwwwwwww...

We were happy to meet new Theatrikids student Deandra, whose reading of the Cheshire Cat was priceless! 

Kolin & Joe, caught at a moment of "Wait, what was that line?"  Director & Playwright Erin Byrne relies on the ideas of the students to build the plot and develop the characters into a Masterpiece of a show!

"What was that, my Queen?"

Sydney (left) and Kaley (right) are quite poised and proper for this tea party scene. 

We're not quite sure why Taylor (right) chose to wear the wolf-head for this scene, but it did add a certain flair!

Deandra (far left) had a great time with the "Cheshire Cat's tail" prop!  We almost couldn't get it back from her!

Here's Taylor trying the scene without the wolf hat.  I am still trying to figure out what the heck is pictured on her shirt...

After this reading of the tea party scene, which I made them do sitting, then again standing, it was Sydney (pictured center, green shirt) that made the comment "sitting or standing, that scene doesn't really work."  We all agreed, and they took lots of time thanking me SO much for making them run through it twice, especially since it was rather confusing.  You're welcome, ladies--That's what Directors are here for--making you do everything over & over! :)

And Finally...
Below Are Some Videos We Took in Class, but Miss Erin's phone was so low on memory, the tea party scene came out choppy.  DON'T MISS KOLIN'S VOCAL AUDITION OF "LET IT BE"--That young man has some PIPES!  I also want to note that it is his own Original rendition of the song, and an extremely IMPRESSIVE INTERPRETATION for someone of his age!