'Alice Jr.' opens tonight at West Aurora High School

You won't want to be late for some very important dates this weekend at West Aurora High School.

In the school's auditorium more than 150 cast members - dressed as the Mad Hatter, Cheshire cat and other Wonderland favorites - will be waiting for audiences to tumble down the rabbit hole and watch their performance of "Alice in Wonderland Jr."

"I think that everything is so lively that you'll just get caught up in the action," said artistic Director Arlene Hawks. "People need to see the talent that young people have. It's amazing."

The young people in the performance range in age from 7 to 17 and are part of Fox Valley Park District's Summer Stage, a program for kids who want to experience live theater.

One of the actors is 15-year-old Ryan Drenbel, a student at West Aurora High School and a newcomer to the acting world. He will play one of the four soloist cardsmen in "Alice Jr."

It's only his second production with Summer Stage, and he couldn't be more excited.

"I really don't want to get it over with because I really like the experience, but I want to get on stage," he said. "I want to have the crowd and the rush, the excitement of being in front of everyone."

Drenbel and his co-stars have been rehearsing for the musical since the beginning of June and, depending on their part, practiced two to four days a week.

Their hard work will pay off with three 75-minute, no-intermission shows this weekend, with the opening performance at 7 p.m. today.

"It's a chance for them to really understand what it's like to be in a major production," Hawks said. "You can't learn drama from sitting and reading a book. You must stand up and communicate and learn to be a team."

Aurora resident and Benet Academy sophomore Claudia Dockery understands - she has been acting since the fourth grade. For this show she will play the medium Alice.

"It's a lot easier without school and tests and homework getting in the way," she said. "I can focus on acting and singing and dancing, which is so much fun to do."

Hawks said the park district felt the popularity of the recent "Alice in Wonderland" movie would make people want to come see a stage version of the show. But she warned the live performance will be much different from other adaptations of the story.

"The greatest part about this musical is that it's not dark," she said. "It's very light and colorful. It's very different and it's very fun."

All the performers seem to agree this version of Wonderland is unlike any other they've seen.

"I'm most excited to show people how creative a show can be because there's a lot of things we added to make it unique," Dockery said.

Despite the fact that "Alice in Wonderland" is one of his favorite movies, Drenbel said he has grown to love the musical and thinks others who like the film version will enjoy the Summer Stage performances just as much.

"At first when I was looking through the script I didn't think it was as good as the movie," he said. "But after we got into it, after we started acting and putting the choreography into it, it was really good."

"People are going to want to see it," he said. "People are going to remember it."

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News"><b>What:</b> "Alice in Wonderland Jr."</p>

<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 16-17 and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 18 </p>

<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> West Aurora High School, 1201 W. New York St.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> $10</p>

<p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://foxvalleyparkdistrict.org" target="new">foxvalleyparkdistrict.org</a></p>