KAYSVILLE -- Broadway comes to Wonderland in Burton Elementary School's original new production, "Alice's Broadway in Wonderland."
Wearing her blue dress and white pinafore, Alice tries to tell her mother she really did visit Wonderland. Alice's mother is concerned that all her daughter does is read fantasy books.
Reading is great, but she wants Alice to "expand her horizons" and do other things, so Mom signs Alice up to take dancing lessons. Alice says she hates dancing and ends up going back down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.
Students in the Spectrum program take the stage in the Davis High School Auditorium, 325 S. Main, at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Admission is free.
Spectrum is Davis School District's program for gifted children. Students have learned many lessons from their experience with acting, and some have already gone on to do other acting.
"Alice's Broadway in Wonderland" was written last summer by Merlyn Schofield and Sharon Poulson, who have also written three other plays the Spectrum students produce. Although Schofield retired last spring, she is back to help direct this year's play.
"We struggled to come up with something fun and original and (a play) that would involve over 100 students. We finally came up with this idea," Poulson said.
"This play will end a 16-year tradition for Merlyn and me, with her retiring last year, and next year will be my last. Our goal was to leave everything in place with the four dramas so that the next teachers and parents can continue the tradition if they want," Poulson said.
The play brings in many well-known tunes, beginning when Alice is greeted by the "Tweedle-Dee-Dum" singers welcoming her with "Hello, Alice ... well, hello Alice, it's so good to have you back where you belong."
Everyone had to audition with a Broadway song. Scarecrows from the Land of Oz perform "Make 'em Laugh." Wicked witches from all of the fairy tales sing "We've Got Magic" to the tune of "We've Got Rhythm" with their glow-in-the-dark brooms, hats and stockings. Aladdin performs with genies to "Magic Carpet Ride" from Cabaret.
Then comes a tiny Captain Hook, played by third-grader Kurt Thornton, who sings "I Feel Handsome."
All of the fairy tale princesses and their handsome princes dance to "A Lovely Princess," recognized as "A Lonely Goatherd" tune.
The Sneetches are in their '50s outfits to dance to "We Go Together." And finally comes the Big Bad Wolf and his nephews in tuxedos, dancing with their delectable partners, the pigs in tutus.
All of this is done in front of a bright and colorful backdrop of a castle, flowers and even the cat in the night sky.
If students begin the Spectrum program in third grade, they get four years of drama.
"They leave the Spectrum program with a great experience in the arts. Drama is a great thing for these kids. Many of them have gone on to be in junior high and high school performances," Poulson said.
Dance choreographers are Tiffanie Harding and Sarah Robinette, who come back every year to help, even though their own students graduated from the program several years ago.
Angie Thompson, a cosmetologist, comes back as well to be in charge of the makeup.
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