"Alice in Wonderland" Opens Tonight at Brentwood High

During a mid-afternoon dress rehearsal on Tuesday, Director Anita Lippman patiently, and loudly, shouted questions to different students from across the Brentwood High School auditorium.

"Where's your costume? Where's the tape?" asked Lippman, while 22 different students in the Brentwood School District theater program, half in and half in , scrambled on stage and in the stands.

It was an exciting and entertaining dress rehearsal for the students' production of , and their energy showed throughout the performance.

"This is now your show," Lippman told the students. "This is a play, and a play of imagination. Go back to when you were 4 years old on the playground."

Sophomore Mariah Logan plays the lead of Alice, a girl who grows bored of tutoring session and dreams of a wonderland filled with talking animals, magical cookies and a dreaded Queen of Hearts, played by Gabby Zoellner.

After noticing a running White Rabbit, played by Levi Kramer, a curious Alice chases him all the way to a rabbit hole that leads to Wonderland.

Before her confrontation with the queen, Alice meets new friends and interesting creatures.

Alice's scene with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, played by Erin Williams and Richelle Jenkins, was funny and well-executed by the students.

The Mad Hatter, played by Thomas Williams, and March Hare, played by Alvin Lan, allow Alice to join their tea party.

And Leisa Camp, Shannon Oehmen and Kasia White help lead the show as narrating cats who periodically interact with the cast on stage.

The students have worked on the production for two months. The district's theater program is entirely extracurricular, meaning students come in before school or stay later to work on lines, prepare costumes and construct the set.

"This particular production showcases new actors and experienced ones," Lippman said. "(It) brings kids together from all aspects of life and gives everyone a singular focus: to do the best possible production."

The show runs all weekend.