The 360 Editor’s note: Seurkamp is a member of the ensemble of the featured production.
NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Rows of dark wooden seats with red plush fabric cushions molded into them fold down. Soft voices murmur to each other as ‘the house’ fills with an audience of varying individuals. Friends, family or strangers sit in the numbered seat on their ticket to watch the royal red curtains glide open to reveal the cast of Alice in Wonderland Jr.
Co-directed by Jodi Wellman MacNeal and Jenn Neal Fritchley, this is the 10th ABC Players (Athens Berean Community Players) show they have worked on together since 2009.
The original book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” by Lewis Carroll was adapted to the screen by Disney in 1951 and turned into a junior musical by David Simpatico together with Danny Elfman and many others to help write the lyrics and music performed in the show.
The musical follows a young girl, Alice, who falls into a Wonderland — quite literally, down through a rabbit hole. In the curious world she lands in, she meets an abundance of peculiar people and gets into all sorts of situations, from finding her way through a too small door to getting drug into a life-or-death game of Simon Says.
Opening night is Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville. The other shows run Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased at the Stuart’s Opera House website, www.stuartsoperahouse.org.
MacNeal, president of ABC Players, loves working with the kids that join their ABC junior shows.
“I think it opens up an opportunity for the arts,” MacNeal said. “I think it opens up an opportunity for kids who maybe don’t necessarily do sports, it gives them that, so I love mentoring and I love the creative side of it.”
Fritchley shares MacNeal’s attitude. She said that it’s not just the talent that’s worth it, but also seeing people build up confidence and the friendships they make through theater.
MacNeal and Fritchley express that the ultimate goal in their productions is for people to have fun. They want their actors to connect with people, to make friendships and they want people to feel included.
A few cast members will say goodbye to ABC Player junior performances when Alice in Wonderland Jr. comes to an end. High school seniors Eden Radcliff and Jozlyn Bew are just two of those who will.
Radcliff, or known as the “Alice” on stage for this production, has been doing shows for ABC Players for around 10 years now. Her first performance was Charlotte’s Web, in which she played one of Charlotte’s babies. She absolutely loves working with MacNeal and Fritchley and the cast and crew members.
Radcliff is thrilled to be Alice and is even more excited to get to perform the show live.
Bew, the royal Queen of Hearts, has been doing performances for ABC Players for nine years, her first being Stuart Little in which she was in the ensemble. Bew is ecstatic to be able to be the Queen of Hearts on the stage.
“This is probably one of my dream roles,” Bew said.
She loves working with the cast and crew that has made itself into a community, with the abundance of familiar faces from show to show as well as new ones making their ways in as well.
“They’re my family, they’ve always been my family since I started doing theater, yeah that’s just how it’s been,” said Bew.
Jay Manley (who plays Cheshire Cat one and is a Dance Captain) shares Radcliff’s and Bew’s sentiment about the cast, crew and directors.
“Oh my God – I love Jodi and Jenn with all my heart,” Manley said about MacNeal and Fritchley. “Jodi has been a staple in getting me here, and Jenn has been really good to talk to. So I really, really love them.”
The cast and crew is working hard to get everything put together for opening night, and with tech week coming up, the show is starting to get put together more and more everyday. ABC Player’s encourages everyone to come see and support the show this December.
NOTE: Bew is an intern for the Athens County Independent.
Marie Seurkamp is a student journalist with Tri-County Career Center and High School’s New Media+ program.
