Play review

In his program notes for "Alice in Wonderland Jr.," Conejo Players director Shawn Lanz invites guests to "let your imagination run wild." This highly entertaining musical stage adaptation of Walt Disney's animated motion picture does just that, much to the delight of the young cast of the Conejo Players Children's Theatre as well as audience members.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," written by Lewis Carroll, were brought to the screen by Disney in 1951, after years of planning and preparation. The stage adaptation was created for performers in middle and high schools and has become a favorite due to imaginative characters, lively songs and colorful costumes.

The plot follows young Alice down the rabbit hole as she encounters whimsical characters such as the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Alice's constantly changing size (due to her ingestion of various spiked cookies and potions) requires three actresses to play her, and all (McLane Martin, Erin Ticktin and Ellen Morgan) are marvelous, spinning in and out of their respective appearances with ease and grace.

The large cast hit their marks, remembered their lines and danced their steps flawlessly. One of the youngest, fifthgrader Anthony Valdez, is a ball of kinetic energy as the White Rabbit, whose manic actions bring to mind another animated Disney rabbit named Roger.

The Cheshire Cat acts as the narrator, a giant puppet divided into three disembodied parts (head, body and tail) manipulated by actors Ashlee Ford, Amanda McCabe and Kuba Chyla (and yes, the toothy grin glows in the dark). Credit should go to puppeteer Mike McCauley, who is responsible for the design and construction of the Cheshire Cat as well as all the props, puppets and paraphernalia used in the show.

Two hilarious standouts are the Caterpillar, played by Adam Rayzor, in his 30th production with Conejo Players, and the Doorknob, played by Ian Mclean.

As the too-hip caterpillar, Rayzor slinks his way onto the stage trailed closely by three performers, each clutching one of those oversized exercise balls in an ingenious creation of the character. Rayzor's song is a discoinfluenced version of "ZipaDeeDooDah," an import from another Disney film, "Song of the South."

The role of the wisecracking Doorknob was created with entertainment icon Jimmy Durante in mind, but Ian Mclean had the audience in stitches with the infusion of an additional touch of Yiddish Borscht Belt humor.

Everyone involved in the show deserves a mention, and a few other favorite roles include Francesca Barletta as the kingdom's executionminded executive, the Queen of Hearts; Alex Karukas as the Mad Hatter; and Chelsea Glasner and Jeremy Hanna as the pear-shaped duo Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, who sing Cy Coben's nutty song of greeting, "How D'ye Do and Shake Hands."

The actors' dance steps are the work of Tami Keaton and the set design the work of veteran Conejo Players jack-of-all-trades Arryck Adams, who also helped out with the "choreography." In this case, that can mean anything from keeping a massive cast of kids from running into one another to the slithery dance steps of the caterpillar.

Adams' colorful sets look like they came right out of a Disney dark ride, but the Mad Hatter's party table, complete with dancing teapots and an animated un-birthday cake, deserves an ovation of its own.

Costume designer Ken Patton and prop man McCauley made sure to issue two of the actors signs featuring an elephant and a donkey during "The Caucus Race," just to be up to date with the election season.

Like most other Broadway "Jr." versions (Disney has many of these available for schools and community theater), "Alice" lasts barely an hour, but the timeless story is lots of fun for all involved. I could write more, but I'm late, I'm late, for a very important deadline.

"Alice in Wonderland Jr." concludes its run this Sun., Oct. 12.

For more information, visit www.conejoplayers.org or call (805) 435-8100 for tickets.