City of Fairfax Theatre Company Youth Ensemble will be performing Disney’s Alice in Wonderland Jr. for the public at Lake Braddock Secondary School’s rehearsal hall on Friday and Saturday evenings. The story is familiar to all who have seen the Disney film, with some minor changes to make it suitable–and more accessible–for a junior stage production. The inquisitive Alice falls asleep in the park, and through a dream is taken on a wild ride through the illogical and the absurd in Wonderland. Along the way, she encounters the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and company, Tweedles Dee and Dum, and the Queen of Hearts. She falls down the rabbit hole, grows and shrinks a number of times, attends an un-birthday tea party, and narrowly escapes losing her head!

It is an ambitious production to take on, particularly with a large, younger cast. Additionally, this production features several upbeat musical numbers. I was able to attend a portion of the dress rehearsal. The rehearsal I attended was a lot of fun. I watched the first run of the evening in which the company was in the process of adding in technical elements. While the light board operator in the booth was ironing things out, the acting ensemble carried on very well despite the light cue programming. It was apparent that the youth ensemble was very dedicated and had put in a lot of hard work. All of the young people–aged 8 to 13–were enjoying themselves, and it was enjoyable for me to see them transition from “rehearsal mode” to “performance mode.” I was told that the main goal of the City of Fairfax Theatre Company Youth Ensemble was to give these young people a chance to participate in the realization of a full production from beginning to end. The ensemble participated in theatre classes in the fall, and has met and rehearsed Disney’s Alice in Wonderland Jr . once a week since January. The show runs for two performances this weekend.

Disclaimer: City of Fairfax Theatre Company allowed ShowBizRadio to attend their final dress rehearsal for this article.

First came the New Testament. Then came the Old Testament. Or at least so goes the gospel according to Steven Schwartz.

His musical Godspell was a considerable success in 1971. It was based on the early books of the Christian Bible. His 1991 musical Children of Eden was based on the Hebrew Bible. Upon opening, Children struggled with bad reviews and disappointed audiences and quickly closed.

But songwriter Schwartz and his librettist John Caird kept tinkering with Children. Eventually they came up with something that is popular with community theaters and school groups. It has a huge cast. Cute kids play cute animals. Adam and Eve, and then Noah and his wife, sketch in the universals of mom, dad and the sometimes unruly kids.

And then there’s the powerful but peevish character known as “Father.” He creates heaven and earth and all living beings. He particularly dotes on humans. But they
are unruly and disobedient. It makes him SO angry. And anger is not one bit good for his character. He comes across as a petulant tyrant.

Jim Hoffman handles the Father role nicely for the newly created City of Fairfax Theatre Company, which has chosen Children of Eden as its inaugural production. Hoffman makes an impressively bi-polar Father — now kindly and encouraging, now wrathful and vindictive.

Like the rest of the vast cast, however, Hoffman has trouble with his head mike. At least that was the case on opening night. Like the God of Creation, CFTC artistic director Michael Replogle has some unresolved just-getting-started production issues to cope with. In Replogle’s case, there’s a well-rehearsed and competent six-person orchestra. Unfortunately, the orchestra is so strong that it often overbears the singers. Lyrics get lost in their accompaniments. And the microphones, on opening night, couldn’t do much about that.

Children of Eden, even in its improved form, isn’t a gripping drama. The CFTC actor/singers struggle gamely with an essentially static pageant representing a super well-known story. Children has none of the quirky characters and tragic pathos of Godspell.

When Andrew Lloyd Webber used Biblical materials for Jesus Christ Superstar and then for Joseph and the Amazing Technical Dream Coat, both his Old and New Testament riffs came to life with startling characters and infinitely varied song styles. Godspell has a little of that. But Children? Alas, no.

Part of a new community theater company’s mandate is to grab an audience. One way of doing that is to use a large cast that includes lots and lots of children — most of whom have loyal moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, uncles and aunts, neighbors and friends. CFTC artistic director has at least captured a large friendly audience for his start up show.