A unique adaptation of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland was performed at Bedell Performance Hall on March 22, 2024.
This event was unlike other River Campus productions because it was performed by a local organization called the Cape Specialty Entertainment Group and Encore Dance Academy instead of SEMO students.
This special adaptation involved aerial acrobatics, where artists perform in the air on suspended special fabrics.
Along with dance, this unique production portrayed different types of music for each scene, genres including pop, rock, jazz and the Law and Order theme song.
Owner of the Cape Specialty Entertainment Group, Lauren Jones, explains the process in choosing the music.
“I wanted to go with the feeling of accuracy, and the storyline was and then go applying music that match that,” Jones said.
With members of the community ranging in age from 10 to 50, some SEMO students had the opportunity to work in this production, whether as stagehands or acrobats.
The River Campus Front of House Operations Manager Nikki Evans expands more on how this affects the River Campus.
“So, it’s not necessarily our students, its people in the community. In doing that, it brings a bigger audience because it’s bringing people who don’t necessarily come to the stuff we produce all the time,” Evans said.
Junior interior design major Ciara Colley was a member of the audience for Alice in Wonderland, and she said she enjoyed watching the performance.
“Each scene had a different taste and a different flavor, so it kept it very spicy and kept it very interesting. They were interacting with the crowd which kept it very exciting,” Colley said.
Taking priority of SEMO productions, the River Campus hosts other performances at least once or twice a year. The next performance is a recital by three faculty members in Shuck Recital Hall on March 26, 2024.
