The Lower School Musical Theatre class presented Alice in Wonderland, Jr. this past Friday evening, April 11, at the Mamiya Theatre. The twenty-two 6th graders in this class performed brilliantly, many of them in multiple roles. The students sang to a pre-recorded orchestral sound track and brought their characters to life through wonderful costuming and choreography. The voices were in tune and they sang with lots of determination and vitality.
This production was a perfect choice for the students. Although all of the students were very good in their roles, Emily Tanaka as Alice, Timothy Leong as the White Rabbit and Cal Muramaru as the Caterpillar were particularly outstanding as were Reece Arakawa and Alyssa Masaquel as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.
The ensemble numbers, especially The Unbirthday Song and Simon Says were very well coordinated and choreographed. Cast members Kiana Harpstrite, Melia Kekauoha, Taylor Ann Masuda, Melanie Carlile, Kathryn Teruya, Sarah Oyadomori, Reid Kimura, Sari Kwee, Sabrina Gouveia, Angela Ching, Kristen Nakaoka, Christine Ushijima, Courtney Kennedy, Blaise Nakagawa, III, Joshua Nascimento, Shaye Villanueva and Kekoa Morris must be congratulated for their outstanding work. The stage and house crews made up of members of the ‘Iolani Dramatic Players did wonderful work with handling sets and props and lighting the performance.
Along with the cast, much praise must be given to the Directors, Musical Director and Chreographer, Mary Chestnut Hicks and Katherine Jones.
