On March 5, 2026 Madison High School had their first performance of Alice by Heart, a reimagination of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland set in the tube stations of London during WW2. The musical was written by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson, and had a brief run at the Newman Mills Theater, Off-Broadway. The story explores the struggle of grief and growing up through the experience of Alice Spencer, a 15 year old girl, who is watching her best friend, Alfred/White Rabbit, die from tuberculosis. In one last adventure for the pair Alice takes Alfred, and all of their other friends in the bunker, down the hole to Wonderland.
When talking with Sophie Santoriello who played Harold Pudding/Mad Hatter, she shared that this show has a very different feeling than last year’s production of Sister Act, so when it was announced this summer she was surprised because it was pretty unexpected. This was a common thought of the cast and crew of this production as many had never heard of the show before. But, after studying the material and reading the script the cast realized how special the show really was.
In speaking with Lisa DiTuro, a current Madison resident who took her kids to see the show, she made clear that she was very impressed with the acting/singing, set design, choreography, and the production value as a whole. Coming from a resident of Madison this made the show a success as production value is something that the Madison High School theater program emphasizes during the rehearsal process. The department really believes production value is one of the most important parts of the show to the success of the production as a whole. Due to this belief, the school outsources a broadway set designer, Anthony Freitas, and professional lighting professional, Cameron Filepas, to give Madison that special spark.
Now as the production is over, many other competing schools are still being evaluated for awards. So, the cast and crew are now just waiting and hoping that their spark will set them apart as they wait to see if they will be nominated for any Paper Mill Playhouse or Montclair State awards.