Emerging Performers Ensemble raise curtain on 'Alice by Heart'

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Plays are often about a journey.  And a cast of college-aged performers are about to take their audience on a journey underneath the streets of London during World War II.

"We are in an underground tube station, trying to hide from the bombing above," explained Sophie La Fave, who plays the lead role of Alice Spencer in the play "Alice by Heart."

The character Alice is an orphan hiding underground with other children to stay safe during the Nazi air siege.  "She is a very young," explained La Fave.  "She’s coming of age and she’s watching her best friend die of tuberculosis.  And she copes with it by going through the story of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’"

But when nurses in the tube take away Alice’s copy of the book, she recites it by memory, inspiring the play’s title "Alice by Heart."

"In the real world, I’m Alfred," said Eli Zimmerman who plays the tuberculosis-stricken Alfred in the play.  "And when we tell the story of "Alice in Wonderland," I become the white rabbit."

The music for the play is written by Duncan Sheik with the lyrics by Steve Slater, the same team who composed the score for "Spring Awakening" which received eight Tony Awards.  Fans of Sheik and Slater will instantly recognize similar musical stylings in "Alice by Heart."

"You’ll hear it," said La Fave as her face lit up.  "The second you walk in, you’re like, that’s Duncan Sheik.  That has ‘Spring Awakening’ written all over it."

For the live musicians backstage on headsets, to the tech crew in the house, and the actors on stage, this is more than a play.  It’s about gaining valuable craft experience in a production meant to mimic a professional theater company.

"The Emerging Professionals Ensemble started eight years ago," said co-founder Rob Thompson. "These are the kids that are most likely to go on to do this."

The ensemble is made up of promising young performers who are late in high school all the way through college.  La Fave is entering her senior year at Viterbo University Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.  Zimmerman is a senior at the PiM Arts High School in Eden Prairie which is hosting the performance of "Alice by Heart."

The program is run like a summer stock theater, said Thompson.  They try to create as much of a professional experience as possible following Equity union guidelines on breaks and even appoint a deputy as part of the cast to bring any concerns forward to the creative team.  The goal is to become a performance bridge between college programs and professional theater.

"The people that you see in the Emerging Professionals Ensemble, you’re going to see again.  You’re going to see them someday at Theater Latte Da, or at Penumbra, or at the Guthrie doing amazing work," said Thompson.

In "Alice by Heart" the ensemble is telling a story that at its core is about love and loss. 

"It deals a lot with sorrow, how to deal with grief," said Thompson. "I think audiences will fall in love with this story."

The show opens Thursday, July 18th, and runs through Saturday, July 27th at the PiM Arts High School at 7255 Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie.  Tickets are available at www.epemn.org.

The ensemble promises a production that audiences can identify with.

"The nature of the show is a bunch of people who lost their families, who find their families in each other," said La Fave.  "We found our family in each other for sure."