Boulder High theater students are twisting the classic "Alice in Wonderland" dreamscape into a nightmare for the school's annual student-run haunted house.
Student directors and seniors Gwen DuVernay, Natalie Gettelman and Sawana Tilton came up with the "Malice in Wonderland" theme and designed the house's 17 rooms. They said they wanted to try a more arty and psychedelic design this year as they tell a darker version of Alice's story after she tumbles down the rabbit hole.
"In our version, she never wakes up," DuVernay said. "It does not go well for her. We have a lot of insane Alices."
Added Gettelman, "The Cheshire Cat is evil. Everybody is evil."
The three directors agreed that knowing what it takes to design and run a haunted house has given them a new appreciation for the professional haunted houses in the area -- and learning some of the tricks hasn't diminished the fun of being scared.
"Other haunted houses are still scary," Tilton said. "We can see other people's art and craft. It's super inspirational."
Boulder High's haunted house, now in its 17th year, is the theater department's major fundraiser and helps keep the program self-sustaining.
The house will be open from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26. A "lights on" performance is from 6 to 6:50 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students. The "lights on" tickets are $5. Tickets can be purchased online at bit.ly/3NnMlB0 or at the door. The suggested minimum age is 12.
The production is set up on the stage and in the basement tunnels of the theater, with customers led through a jumble of themed rooms in small groups. To set the stage, actors in the lobby also will give the participants a preview of what's waiting for them.
While the directors and leads spend months refining ideas and designing the house, the crew of about 120 students only has about two weeks to build sets, figure out costumes, design lights and sound, and create and practice makeup looks. To make it happen in such a short time frame, actors generally are expected to help by working on a tech crew.
"It's a really good way to build a program and a community," Boulder High theater sponsor Shanie Armbruster said. "It breaks down barriers between the actors and the tech crew. It's great to see this many kids so happy."
Students said the haunted house is where the technical theater students get to shine.
"It's just so cool," DuVernay said. "You get to see so much technical talent."
Seniors and costume leads Cal Lilly and Karissa Murra said they have to be strategic in repurposing the theater department's stash of costumes since so many used in the haunted houses are ripped or spattered with blood. For this year's show, they added, they spent their small budget mainly on animal ears for characters like the White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat. On a recent day, they were trying to figure out how to craft a caterpillar costume from metal rings and a piece of fabric.
One of the benefits of the haunted house, they said, is the costumes don't need to be perfect since they're not on display under bright stage lights like in a typical production. But, as with every show, good costumes require an understanding of both the character and the overall feel of the production, they said.
"A lot of it is character design," said Lilly, who plans to study costume design in college. "You have such a big influence on the characters. When the actors get in costume, that's when it looks like a show."
Sounds crew leads Maeve Dufton, a senior, and Finn McCormick, a junior, said their biggest challenge is finding unusual sounds. For this year's haunted house, they were tasked with adding lots of animal sounds, a stretching sound and a "spiraling sound to make you feel like you're falling."
"Haunted house is probably my favorite production," Dufton said. "There's a lot of cool stuff going on. You have to get more creative."
Projects for the set construction crews included a guillotine, a bridge with mirrors underneath and a moveable wall that makes a room close in on the participants. The lights crew, which can't depend on the main spotlights and overhead lights because they're too bright, scrambled to add two to three individual lights to each room.
"I love the artistic element and playing with all the lights," said lights lead and senior Kaya Surden, who also has been an actor in the production. "It's really exciting to be behind the scenes and be the one creating this. It's very rewarding to hear people scream. It means we're doing it right."