- July 30, 2025
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Riley Aparicio-Jerro, 13, she's always been a fan of "Alice in Wonderland."
"I love how it's spooky and just, I don't really know the word but, like, magical. I've always just kind of been amazed when I was younger," she said.
As she was starting her third year with Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's Stage of Discovery Summer Education Program, the title of this year's performance caught her attention.
"I was super excited when they said that we were going to to 'Alice in Boogie Wonderland," she said. "I wasn't really sure what that was but, I heard the 'Alice' part, so I was excited."
As students rehearsed for the performance, which takes place July 12 and 13, classic songs from various genres could be heard reverberating through the halls.
Stage of Discovery began in 2016, and since then, the five-week program has been free to participants due to community support.
Numerous alumni have gone on to study the performing arts in college and achieve professional acting status, according to a media release.
Education Director and Artistic Associate Jim Weaver says each year, he looks for something that will grow campers' foundational performing arts skills, while also challenging them.
He decided to bring the distinctive characters of "Alice in Wonderland" to music that would be alternatingly new and unfamiliar to students, while engaging a wide audience.
The musical numbers span genres including pop, disco, R&B, and oldies, with examples including a Roy Hamilton song from the 1950s, the band Earth, Wind and Fire, and "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey.
The performance will include a live band led by Resident Music Director Matthew McKinnon.
"There's ways that everybody can relate to these different things, and that's why I picked music that's from different eras and different styles, because it all lives in Boogie Wonderland," Weaver said. "That's the connection. That's the ultimate point that I'm trying to, in the story, have people walk away with. That music connects us all in so many ways."
The theater advertises new twists in the classic story, and the crew says the production re-envisions "Alice in Wonderland" in a way uniquely suited to Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
"I like how Mr. Jim changes up the script to make it more of a Westcoast Black Theatre original piece, and then the show kind of takes more of the scary parts out of Alice in Wonderland, because Alice in Wonderland can be a bit crazy and scary, but I feel like this one is so fun and it's going to be really fun to watch," said Aparicio-Jerro, who plays Tweedledee as part of a quartet of characters.
JC McIntyre, 17, who plays the King of Hearts, said it's due to the "amazing" instructional staff at the theatre that he has been returning since he was eight or nine years old.
When he first started, he said he was interested in singing, but hadn't been interested in acting or dancing.
"Through this, it's really brought those parts of me out, and it's come to be a passion for me," he said.