A little over nine months ago an idea was conceived! "Let's get creative!" said musical director, Roger Girard. "We can do it!" said Al, Linda, Charlie, Bill and John, because as everyone in Lynden knows, "Great minds think alike!" And now, spring has come. Everything is ready. Giggles are heard floating down Main Street. With the watchful eye of a proud parent, Roger anticipates the first steps, the first words! The spotlight is bright on centre stage. Cue the band. We're ready. The first words are heard, "Who's on first?" And, once again, "Who's on first?"

Creatively speaking, the answer would seem obvious. "So You Think You Can Dance, Alice!" must of course begin with... Alice! But the bright spotlight is bouncing off a very large rabbit instead. "Cut!" Is that Alice we hear bounding down the aisle? No, that would be a herd of bunnies. It looks like more than creativity has been conceived in the Lynden area this winter!
Someone is sent to search for Alice.
Meanwhile a rather menacing Queen of Hearts is slowly bursting out of her royal raiment. Another blooming moment for a creative Lynden Spring Revue.

At the back of the rehearsal hall, a group of very serious men are trying to get their act together. A deep voice entreats, "We have to do this in unison fellas! Come on… up on your toes! Turn. Now both feet over your heads! Kick rhythmically!" Needless to say, things are not going so swimmingly for this creative juggernaut.

Oh, look! Maybe that's Alice out in the hallway. Let's check it out!

There is a sommelier, a nun, a flag, a personal trainer, an Englishman, a cleaning lady, a Scotsman and, can it be? It looks like Queen Elizabeth herself! Well, the guest list is certainly diverse. What's happening? They all appear to looking for something they can't quite put their hands on! Perhaps they are just going through a wishful stage.

Through it all, the sixty faces of "The Cheshire Cats" (aka the Lynden Spring Revue choir) smile mysteriously. Do they know where Alice is? Not likely. They are probably humming the opening song – in their heads of course. Creative!

Obviously, affected by all this searching, Tweedledum and Tweedledee are bouncing off the walls. Where's Alice? Suddenly, there is the sound of running, heavy breathing and a wild-eyed Mad Hatter places himself within sight of the stage. He is joined by teens preparing to bang on buckets and stagehands muffling the noises made by handfuls of diamonds and bracelets and necklaces. Of course, they are ccompanied, silently, by a bagpiper. Pent up creativity quietly awaits its cue to burst forth!

The stage curtains part slightly. A graceful hand points stage right. Only part of a lovely white apron is visible. Again the white fingers point delicately. "Yes!" It is the unison voices of the narrators.

THEY are on first!
Al Croxall and John Pepper nod their mutual thanks to the obviously not lost Alice. The delicate hand gives them the thumbs up sign and disappears behind the curtain.

Lights! Camera! Action!

"Once upon a time in Lynden...." a very creative show was born! And so, we know who is on first! We want you to know too!

Lynden Spring Revue - So You Think You Can Dance, Alice!

Feathers. A sock monkey. Caterpillars. Purple roses. Red boas. This is the shopping list of Darielle Clayton-Thomas. Is she opening a boutique? A pet store? A haberdashery? It's hard to narrow it down. A look inside her workroom reveals a colourful collection of little headpieces, known as fascinators. So, the bottom line or headline, in this case, should be "She's Just Fascinating!"

From the Royal Wedding in London to 21 lucky women in the Spring Revue in Lynden, everyone is wearing this latest fashion accessory. It is obviously the right plumage for the music industry. I wasn't the only one in our living room who commented on Christina Aguilera who was sporting a saucy black round disc with rhinestones on it, as she outshone the three male judges of "The Voice" recently. Having said that, Christina would spin her chair off its wheels, if she had access to our Darielle, who, in her own words says, "I have fully embraced my inner Mad Hatter!"

The rehearsal buzzes with activity but there is great interest around the colourful display of fascinators. As the line forms, I hear one husband encourage his wife, "You should sign up for one of those!" No doubt he sees that these little bits of Darielle's creativity could be a special souvenir of the 2012 show. And so, the fascinators will enjoy "fifteen minutes of fame" as they say, but, after that creator Darielle, is not sure what will happen to them.

"Traditionally the people who wear special Spring Revue accessories have the chance to keep them." We ponder together that it might be fun if they could be auctioned off for a fundraiser! They certainly inspire fantasy and everyone enjoys pointing out their favourite, including Darielle. "There are a couple I want to keep but they are probably the same ones everyone else will want too. And I don't have space for all of them!"

I am seated by Darielle's daughter, Brianna, who twinkles like her Mom when she says what fun she has trying them on at home! It isn't any wonder that she is a first-time-performer this year that plans to take part in the show and sing – and dress-up - for years to come! Suddenly, Darielle is called to the front of the rehearsal. She reports that costumes for The Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum, Tweedle Dee and the White Rabbit are complete. Her artistry with fabric, needles and hot glue gun is murmured over as the characters parade around in their special finery customized to perfection.

A hand is raised from the quieter than usual mens section where a soulful question is asked, "Do the men get to wear fascinators?" Clearly, this could be an issue but, as ever, Darielle is prepared. She quickly soothes the manly contingent with the good news that they will not pale in comparison to the women. "You will all have fabulous suspenders and flashy ties." And then she adds more good news "I am working on a few special hats too."

No doubt the men will hold their own both vocally and sartorially. There is spontaneous applause as she finishes her update from the costume cupboard and someone, probably a soprano, whispers to her neighbour, "Can you imagine?" and the response comes back, "No! But Darielle can!"

“So You Think You Can Dance Alice” is not only a unique way to approach the great songs chosen for the show, it is also a new way to look at Alice. She is significantly older than any Alice you may remember from movies or picture books. As Alice arrives in Lynden in 2012 she is looking for fun and adventure for her retirement years! There will be many surprises for Alice and audience members as she seeks through song, story and dancing to live it up in Lynden.
Her nemesis, The Queen of Hearts, claims to be her royal youthful self, even after all this time, but it is quite clear that she too is not playing with a full decade.

The creative team of Al Croxall, John Pepper, Bill Osborne and Charlie Landoni collaborated with the musical team of Roger Girard, Cathy Bryden and Linda Davis and their imaginations have turned Alice loose on Lynden! It's time to get your tickets!

If you sense a buzz in the air this spring, it is not your imagination working overtime! The dizzy vibrations are actually coming from Lynden. Some whiz on the creative team for "So You Think You Can Dance Alice" came up with the idea of putting 14 children and 14 kazoos together and then, to make it really interesting, telling them repeatedly, "Please don't make any noise (er... music) in here!"

Picture this. Show Director, Roger Girard and junior choir director Marian Brisco, facing 14 kazoo kamikazes, do a perfect imitation of deer in the headlights throughout the following: "All right boys and girls. Let's not use your kazoos except during the song." "Young man – could you take the kazoo out of your mouth and sing along with the group?" "Sweetheart - you blow on the other end!" "Is anybody listening?" "No, no don't jump around!" "Well don't stand too still!" "Okay wiggle a bit. I said wiggle not giggle!"

At many points during this riotous rehearsal, the adults had issues but nobody heard them. Several times, in grownup fashion, they asked the "Twinkling Stars" if they had any questions? Each time at least one hand was waving frantically! "May I please go to the washroom?" "Do we have to make our own costumes?" "Can we watch the rest of the show, when we are finished our part?" "Can we squeeze that really big horn? Just once! Please? Please?" "Can I go now? I have a hair appointment."

The songs get rehearsed. Group movements are planned. At times, it seems like they are trying to herd cats! Too soon the key question is asked, "Are we finished? My parents are here to pick us up!" Quickly the question is answered. "Okay! Exit from the stage! No running! Please don't fall!" In the twinkling of an eye fourteen kids are gone! Fourteen kazoos are silent! Director Roger turns to Twinkling Stars director, Marian and asks with a slight tremor in his voice: "I think that went well, don't you?"

Silence.

There are many unanswered questions about what it takes to make sixty people give up Wednesday evenings every week, and even some Saturdays and Sundays to practice with a choir! One choir member says, "It started when I sat in the audience in 1988. I watched that great production and decided, 'I am sitting in the wrong place!'"

Thirty-four years later singer-actor-stage-builder, John Cloke, is now heir-apparent to stage construction protocols established by the late Ed Wehrstein. We see him pushing a trolley loaded with another piece of the expanded stage for "So You Think You Can Dance, Alice!" Let's take a look at what John sees behind those closed rehearsal doors!

Just inside the front doors, behind a table stacked high with papers, sits Choir Treasurer, Rosie Brooks. She greets everyone with her trademark happy smile and hands out little bundles of tickets with that lovely "I'm sold" look to them. "I can't believe how much interest there is in the Sunday matinees. It's amazing!" Each elastic bound pile spreads the news. A good sign of great audiences to come!

Inside the main rehearsal room, Bill Osborne, archivist, singer and well-known MC of many Lynden shows, can be seen unobtrusively snapping candid shots. He says he knows what's going on and "I have the pictures to prove it!" He adjusts sight lines to capture the group signing up to wear fascinators. These limited-edition productions created by costumer, Darielle Clayton-Thomas, are going to be quirky, colourful trademarks of a show that is shaping up to be quirky and colourful itself. Bill quickly snaps a picture of John Pepper and Al Croxall as they conspire before the rehearsal begins for ways to inject even more of the comical into this already exceptional musical.

As the room settles expectantly, new props are introduced. It looks like musical director Roger Girard is expecting rain this spring. He is pulling umbrellas out of his kit. He even has his own handmade version that he crafted with "a little help from the Dollar Store and Value Village!" There is much laughter and the almost-serious work of rehearsing is about to begin. After all, rehearsing is what you would expect to take place at choir rehearsals! Isn`t it? As Roger takes one last turn in front of the mesmerized group, a voice rises over the room saying, "The lampshade is there but the bulb is definitely missing!" Laughter erupts. Some begin singing, "Now do ya love me?"

There is no doubt that when the curtain rises on "So You Think You Can Dance, Alice", nothing will be missing! We want to see you there!