Walden Theatre Announces ALICE IN WONDERLAND

The Walden Theatre Summer Academy, a bedrock theatre summer program for children ages 8-13, will perform Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on five weekends this summer.

There are five sessions of the Summer Academy, and at the end of each session, the young actors will perform three public shows of this original script by Diana Grisanti. The play, a commissioned work based on the classic Alice books by Lewis Carroll, is written for 26 young actors and is suitable for all audiences. Tickets for performances are $8.

Walden Theatre is recognized nationally for its theatre conservatory for young people, and the Summer Academy is frequently the first chance for students to participate in a production with public performances. Many of our top graduating seniors got started in Academy shows like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1001 Arabian Nights, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and others over the years.

Walden Theatre is a participant in the Kindergarten Countdown, a partnership between the city of Louisville, the library system, Metro United Way's Success By 6, Jefferson County Public Schools and PNC Bank. Special Friday afternoon performances by the Summer Academy students are offered for parents and rising Kindergarteners as part of the program, and shows each year fill up.

Youngsters enrolled in the Summer Academy work under the direction and attention of Walden Theatre instructors doing scene work and rehearsing for the final production. Students get the experience of working with sets, props, and costumes for the first time, and every child gets a speaking role in the final production after auditioning for roles. Novice and experienced young actors work together, learning to use their voices and bodies as tools for communication and expression. Summer Academy is a place where students receive a strong foundation in theatre arts, develop concentration, self-reliance and cooperation, and have fun with new friends.

About the Playwright
Diana Grisanti is a first-year James A. Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and graduate of the University of Iowa. Her short play Post Wave Spectacular was produced in the 2010 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Her play Semantics was a 2010 finalist for the New Harmony Project and semifinalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her adaptation of 1,001 Nights was commissioned and produced by Walden Theatre. Currently, she is at work on musical about Kentucky basketball with composer/lyricist Matt Schatz. As a dramaturg, she has worked on new plays by Sherry Kramer, Alice Tuan, Carlos Murillo, and W. David Hancock. For the two years prior to relocating to Austin, Diana lived in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she worked as a teacher and translator.

Information and Tickets
All performances of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are at Walden Theatre, 1123 Payne Street, Louisvlle. Dates for performances are as follow:
June 18 and 19 @ 7:30pm, June 19 @ 2:00pm
June 25 and 26 @ 7:30pm, June 26 @ 2:00pm
July 23 and 24 @ 7:30pm, July 24 @ 2:00pm
July 30 and 31 @ 7:30pm, July 31 @ 2:00pm
August 6 and 7 @ 7:30pm, August 7 @ 2:00pm

All tickets are $8. Further information about the Summer Academy, including instructors, instructor, bios, and dates of each session is available on the Walden Theatre website at www.waldentheatre.org/summer_academy.asp.

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