{"id":16064,"date":"2025-11-17T20:04:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/?p=16064"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:14:28","slug":"alice-by-heart-musical-theater-behind-the-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2025\/11\/17\/alice-by-heart-musical-theater-behind-the-scenes\/","title":{"rendered":"“Alice by Heart”: musical theater behind the scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Jordan Hildebrand \u201826, staff writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LVC\u2019s theater company\u2014Wig and Buckle\u2014provides rigorous yet rewarding experiences for all involved students; LVC\u2019s musical “Alice by Heart” was no exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those students is Andie Soto, a sophomore English major with specializations in secondary education and musical theater. Soto has been interested in the acting and imaginary elements that make up theater and has realized that college is the perfect time to explore that. He found himself doing this in “Alice by Heart” and has made plans to continue his involvement in theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI loved the drama and imagination that came from playing pretend growing up,\u201d Soto said. \u201cLater in life, I realized I missed it. I missed the theatrics and was never comfortable enough to try drama in high school, so when I got to LVC I joined Wig and Buckle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wig and Buckle, while fun is extremely time consuming, and requires one to dedicate a significant portion of their time and personal resources to being involved in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is something that applies to every element of the cast and crew, it is essentially having a part-time job on top of being a full-time student. This can come with its own difficulties that are worth addressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a tendency to spend more time on the things I enjoy, so I found myself neglecting my academics in favor of the show and socialization,\u201d Soto said. \u201cI use acting as escapism, so whenever classes became too stressful, I would find myself in the theater. I was able to find a healthy balance by getting work done on the weekends before rehearsals throughout the week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In college, socialization and being involved with community are two of the most important things one can do, especially early on, as these connections one make will be the ones you want to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is something Soto found himself extremely grateful for, and valued the most about being involved in the production of “Alice by Heart.” The requirement of diverse skillsets and individualistic needs is something that makes theater truly a community effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best part is that everyone has different skill set,\u201d Soto said. \u201cFrom before the start of production, when directors and stage managers are chosen, to set construction and the inclusion of stage crew, there are places where everyone thrives. It takes a lot of people with very different skill sets to put on a good production. Wig and Buckle gives everyone the chance to try their hand at anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The true magic of theater for Soto is a community that requires varied sets of hands, but more importantly, emphasizes that diversity is the only way to succeed in the putting on of such a large production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soto himself had numerous opportunities to reflect on his skill set and his talents over the course of this production. Every show has its struggles, and every actor, crew member and production team member has their own challenges that they have to overcome for the production to flow smoothly and naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis show was so reliant on actors bouncing off of one another,\u201d Soto said. \u201cI struggle to act on my own, so I spent many rehearsals becoming familiar with the other actors on set so that connections looked authentic and everything went smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soto\u2019s challenges required the use of different kinds of skills, such as communication, teamwork and adaptability, all of which changed the outcome of the production for the better. It teaches individuals more about themselves, and the way they work with peers and under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things this show taught me about myself is the value of growing my own skills,\u201d Soto said. “Thanks to my castmates and many others, I identified areas of growth throughout the show, and I was able to improve them. Sometimes I have the attitude that just doing well is enough, but I think moving forward, I\u2019m going to continue to assess whether I can improve even further and then do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soto encourages other students to participate in it, even if experience is missing. While theater works in the imaginary, the benefits and connections are real, and last even further beyond the production\u2019s ending. He is currently exploring the beneficial ways in which not only “Alice by Heart” taught him about himself, but also, how that knowledge can be used in his day-to-day life.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Hildebrand \u201826, staff writer LVC\u2019s theater company\u2014Wig and Buckle\u2014provides rigorous yet rewarding experiences for all involved students; LVC\u2019s musical “Alice by Heart” was no exception. One of those students is Andie Soto, a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"category-front-page","9":"category-homepage"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16064"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16143,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16064\/revisions\/16143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}