‘Alice in Wonderland’ at Davis High School

By COLLEEN FONTANA
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL

It’s 3:45 p.m.
Teenagers sit haphazardly around the Davis High School auditorium. Scattered about are splashes of color and slivers of pattern, glimpses of costumes forming slowly among the cast.
Attentive to director Shannon Ruiz, the players — recognizing the importance of these comments — listen as advice is given.
“Don’t ever drop character,” they hear as they move to their positions for Act 1.
One more thing: “And no cell phones during rehearsal!”
With opening night just around the corner, students in the cast and crew of the Davis High School production of “Alice in Wonderland” were steadily perfecting their characters and polishing scene changes in order to produce a quality production. And they are confident in their ability to do just that.
“Not only have we been working hard,” says 16-year-old junior Boston Peltier, “but we’ve been doing a fantastic job.”
Players have been rehearsing since early October. Earlier this month, sets still needed to be finished and lines needed to be perfected.
Their work culminated with opening night Thursday and continues through the two-week run of the production.
“‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a show that can and should be an experience for people of all ages,” Ruiz says.
Briana Tamaki plays the part of the Cheshire Cat. It’s the first time she’s been in such a prominent role, but she’s surrounded by a supportive cast and says she feels confident.
“It’s the most nonsensical play that there has ever been, and it is not the standard, normal plot, so it’s unique in that sense,” says the 17-year-old senior.
“There are a lot of goofy characters that will make you laugh because they don’t make sense, and characters that will make you laugh because they do make sense,” says 18-year-old senior Alex Cottle, who plays Alice.
Senior Whitney Ketcham, 17, plays the Queen of Hearts, whose slightly deranged character says — or attempts to say — “Off with their heads!” a total of 17 times throughout the play.
Ketcham was eager to play such a role.
“I like playing characters that are over the top because I like being dramatic,” she says.
Jenny Gonzalez, a 16-year-old junior, likes being dramatic, too. But her job isn’t on stage. In her third-year American Sign Language class, the students were presented with the opportunity to sign the play to earn extra points. It was an opportunity Gonzalez didn’t want to pass up.
“I volunteered to participate in the theatrical side of Davis,” she says, adding she thinks it’s important to expose audience members to American Sign Language.
Sixteen-year-old Nichole Lounsbury, assistant backstage manager, is in charge of making sure everyone is where they need to be with what they need when they need it. Although she is backstage during the show, she expects the view from the audience will be spectacular.
“When (the curtain) comes up and all the colors appear, people are going to love it,” she says.
“It is a classic. Everyone loves a classic.”

• Colleen Fontana is a senior at Davis High School and a member of Unleashed, the Yakima Herald-Republic’s journalism program for teenagers.

IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Alice in Wonderland.”
WHERE: Davis High School Auditorium, 212 S. Sixth Ave., Yakima.
WHEN: 7 p.m. today; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Nov. 19-20; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 21.
HOW MUCH: $5 for children and students; $8 for adults.

Yakima Valley teens talk about the presidential election

“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”
— Barack Obama, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

By MIA WALSH
UNLEASHED STAFF
Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next president of the United States of America on Jan. 20, 2009.
Although most Yakima Valley teenagers were too young to vote in the recent election, that did not stop them from having strong opinions about it and the candidates, Obama and John McCain.
“We had the chance to watch history in the making,” said 17-year-old Julia Kennedy, a junior at La Salle High School. “I am very happy because even though I was for McCain, Obama worked very hard to be where he is.”
Seventeen-year-old Alex Cottle, a junior at Davis High School, had a similar reaction.
“Although I don’t agree with Obama’s political opinions, him being elected president is still a historic event,” he said.
What does this historic event say about our country?
“An African-American man is going to be president, and a woman ran as vice president. This shows that most people look at their ideas, not their race or gender,” said Whitney Ketcham, also a 17-year-old junior at Davis.
“I am fine with a black president, but I know some kids at my school who aren’t,” said Annalee Davis, a 17-year-old senior at Zillah High School.
What are some of the challenges Obama faces as president?
“The economic crisis and the two-front war overseas are the major challenges,” Cottle said.
“He has a lot of pressure to turn the country around and a lot of expectations to live up to,” Kennedy said.
What would local teens like to see happen in the next four years?
“I want our country to become united again,” Kennedy said.
Kyle Ketcham, another 17-year-old junior at Davis, wants to see a change in the economy.
Also, “I hope we become more of a positive country, where we are there to help other countries,” he said.
The election was also an opportunity for teachers to incorporate current events into classroom discussions.
“We didn’t have an actual lesson about it, but we talked about historic elections and how the current one relates to them,” said 39-year-old Jose Garcia, who teaches history at Davis. “People need to understand the true historical significance that this election has for our country.”

— Mia Walsh is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Davis High School.