The Powell High School drama program’s musical this year was “Alice by Heart”. Seniors Elaina Kousoulos portrayed Alice Spencer, and senior Justin Dusenberry played Alfred Hallam, the White Rabbit, and the March Hare. The audience found the cast that performed on May 8 and May 9.

The play was packed with group dances where the whole cast shared the stage and many songs that the audience clapped and cheered for. 

“My favorite song and dance number that we did was ‘Down the Hole,’” sophomore Reina Hansen said. “I like it because the choreo was really fun. It was also really challenging. I like to be challenged when it comes to choreography. It was one of those songs where every single person on the cast was on stage together.” 

Other cast members agreed that this musical made a long-lasting impression on them. It was just one of those performances that stuck with them.

“A highlight from the musical that I will cherish for years would be the day of our last show,” senior Elaina Kousoulos said. “I got to hang out with my best friend and visiting family, play some games, and perform one of my dream shows. I’ll never forget the words everyone shared to me after the performance and emotions that came with. I loved working with each and every one of them and I will never forget that musical.” 

Many people don’t realize how much work goes into the choreography of a play. Especially one like Alice by Heart that is around an hour and a half and has 20 musical and choreographed numbers.

“My favorite memory was the first day I learned the choreography,” sophomore Joseph Bott said. “It was the moment where I realized that I’m gonna love the whole production. My favorite song and dance number, I must say I’m biased toward – “Sick to Death of Alice-Ness.” It’s the song that my character, The Dormouse, had a proper solo in during the musical. Plus, the choreography was so fun. We got to jump on tables and chairs and just be mad.”

It is always a tough time of year when the senior drama kids head towards graduation. So many bonds, formed during the tireless hours of work put into the musical, created friendships that are a great part of the drama program, as are the opportunities that help the students to grow as actors and actresses.

“The most impactful part of the play was the seniors,” junior Anika Anderson said. “It was our last performance with them, which made it special, but it was also sad. My favorite memory was doing silly little dances and just shenanigans in general with my friends backstage right before I went on. I loved playing the Queen of Hearts; it’s my favorite role I’ve performed so far.”

Many of the characters in “Alice by Heart” were intricate. All the cast members had to really dive deep to embody the characters they were portraying.

”The most impactful part of the play was how much depth the character I played had,” junior Austin Sears said. “The character was complex, and it was the hardest character I’ve ever played. My favorite person to share the stage with was Joseph Bott; we had so much chemistry on stage and had so much fun.”

The musical gave the cast the chance to develop their talents over months. The cast and crew put in an immense amount of effort to make the play phenomenal for all the people who came to watch.

“Everyone was really fun to be on stage with,” Hansen said. “The two most important to me was senior Justin Dusenberry. He’s such an incredible actor and singer. Seeing him grow as an actor and a singer, and seeing him enjoy the role that he played was really amazing. Sophomore Joseph Bott was also really cool to watch. I convinced him to join the musical when he didn’t really want to. So seeing him grow from this guy who was scared to audition to getting a really good role for his first year was really fun to watch.”

Students expressed gratitude toward the drama program, which gave PHS students the chance to break out of their shells and gain confidence on stage. 

“I loved that we got to choreograph and block some of the dances and scenes on our own,” Kousoulos said. “My favorite part, however, would have to be performing the show. There were so many things that went wrong during the performance that we had to improvise; it made the whole experience fun because live theatre isn’t perfect. I loved that we gave the audience an authentic, unique experience, and getting lost in the character and acting out some emotions with my best friend was truly a blessing.”