'Alice': Don't be late for this important date!

Yumans can fall down the rabbit hole next week with a student production of Disney's "Alice and Wonderland Jr." at the Yuma Art Center.

Thirty-nine students will perform in the play, which is an adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic "Through the Looking Glass."

The production wraps up the six-week summer camp where students age 8 to 14 "learned everything about the stage," said co-director Tim O'Brien.

The show will run Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25, both at 7 p.m. in the Historic Yuma Theatre, 254 S. Main St. Tickets are $5.

O'Brien said with musicals, the students learn both singing and dancing.

Mad Hatter Nicholas Gronbach, 10, said that's what he likes about being in the production.

Eleven- year- old Dylan Rossi Dubois' favorite part: the dancing.

Rossi Dubois, who plays the latter of the famous duo Tweedledee and Tweedledum, said he also enjoys having fun with his friends at the camp.

Co-director Megan Seals, who's taught at the camp for two years, said the production will be funny. She said it will also focus a lot on the character of Alice.

"Regardless of what all these crazy people want her to be, 'I'm Alice, and I'm going to be myself,'" Seals said of the character.

The audience will also get to see some wonderfully vibrant costumes with the help of costume designer Cindy Jaramillo.

Jaramillo, who's helped with the costumes since 2006 and teaches at the Yuma Art Center, said "we use a lot of imagination" to make the costumes.

But Jaramillo had a lot of help from the parents of the students, she said. "It wouldn't come together without their help."

For more information about the production, call the Yuma Art Center at 373-5202.

---
Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.