Hey BU! This week I’m dedicating my column to someone near and dear to my heart. I’m in a Stage Troupe production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and this week I talked to half of my directorial team.
Audrey Wood is a junior who will probably end up studying health sciences, but is in-between schools at the moment. “Alice in Wonderland” is the first full-length show that Audrey has directed, so I wanted to get the scoop on what it has been like.
Audrey is co-directing with Michael Gobiel, a sophomore in the School of Education. Michael couldn’t be reached for comment so this is “Alice” from Audrey’s perspective.
I first wanted to know what it was like working with our cast. We’re all a bit crazy and I’m sure we get frustrating some times.
“It takes a special person to act in ‘Alice,’ just like it takes us weirdos to work on it,” Audrey said. “Everyone involved is so quirky and strange that it has been wonderful bonding with such an odd group.”
For example, yesterday during rehearsal, our wonderful cast member Will Small, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, told us that he was, “trying to make his face look like a lava lamp.” Hilarity is a constant part of rehearsals for “Alice,” and Audrey takes it all in stride.
Our version of the show is a strange interpretation of the original “Alice in Wonderland,” so I was curious how they decided on it.
“Michael chose it,” Audrey said. “It took a while to convince me but I thought it was pretty funny after several read-throughs.”
And BU, let me tell you, it’s pretty funny.
This week is our last week of rehearsal, and soon our experience with “Alice” will be over. After spending so much time with this collection of hair-brained individuals, I have learned so much and been able to experience a huge range of emotions.
But now we move into tech week, which anyone who has ever done any performance of any kind will know is the busiest, hardest and most demanding part of any production. Our rehearsals that have been going until 11 p.m. will now stretch until midnight or later and homework will become a secondary priority.
I know that as an actor, I am feeling nervous about putting up this baby that we’ve been working on for two months. I can’t imagine what it’s like to do it as a director.
“I’m incredibly nervous,” Audrey said. “This is my first tech week at the helm, and I hope I’m not steering us into something gross and scary. But I’m not, so deep breaths.”
If the dyed hair, insane makeup and crazy cast isn’t enough to entice you to come see “Alice,” come for the amount of work we’ve all put into it.
Hope to see you in the audience!
Jemma Douglas is a sophomore in the College of Communication studying Journalism. She can be reached at jwdoug@bu.edu.
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