Review: Wonderland, Alice's Rock & Roll Adventure

Ariana Burks as Alice in Wonderland, Alice's Rock & Roll Adventure Photo by Charles Osgood

Pe'Tehn, a preschooler at Ferguson School, saw the April 24 performance of "Wonderland, Alice's Rock & Roll Adventure." Her review is below.

The play was fun. I liked to see and hear them play the guitars. I liked the Rock & Roll music they played. I liked how they sung.  My favorite character was Alice. I liked her because she smiled a lot and she had a beautiful blue dress. I liked the rabbit and the jabberwocky because they played their instruments well. I liked the ladies dressed up as red roses because they were cute and I like red roses. It was an awesome play.

Performances continue through May 24. Tickets are $10-$38.  For tickets and information, visitchicagochildrenstheatre.org or call (872) 222-9555

StudentsXpress SPEAKS Success!

What a great time we had at StudentsXpress SPEAKS Thursday night! I was so delighted to see so many families and friends come out to support the students as they spoke on stage about "What I'm Into Now." It was a great turnout, and the students were fantastic. I was so impressed with the way they handled themselves on stage. 

As I've said before, it's always great to see the students who write for the magazine, and this was a wonderful night of students from different schools coming together. The speakers represented Alcott, Blaine, Diego, Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Lawndale, Nettelhorst, Talcott and Waters schools. Thank you so much to the students and families who came out from near and far to make this evening what it was. I look forward to having more StudentsXpress SPEAKS nights in the future to celebrate our students!

Jaleel, Hamilton Elementary

What a cool thing for a kid to be into. I can't wait to hear Jaleel speak about it himself at StudentsXpress SPEAKS night tomorrow....

Hello, my name is Jaleel and I like to plant things. Some of the things I like to plant are tomatoes, beans, peas and all cactus and succulents. If you go to my house you would think it would be full of plants but instead I have a lot of science stuff but a few plants but mostly science.

Plants are addicting and

Lovable and

Awesome I

Never want them

To leave my

Sight

—Jaleel, Hamilton Elementary

Kai C., Waters Elementary

I am interested in Star Wars. I am interested in Star Wars because it is the first movie that showed space and all of the stars. If you can go into space I would fly my starship all the time. Also it has space battles, light saber duels and gun battles. The most common battles are the ones with clones and droids. Most clone and droid battles have one Jedi in them. Jedi should only use a light saber in battle. In Star Wars you will see a lot of monsters. The Millennium Falcon has been in many battles. That’s why I am interested in Star Wars.

—Kai C., Waters Elementary

Jazmine, Brownell and Jasihyia, Lawndale

These two girls submitted their work through WITS (Working In The Schools), a wonderful organization that is now participating with StudentsXpress. 

     Though I couldn't fit everyone's writing and artwork into the magazine, I love what they each had to say and wanted to share them here. I hope they will be able to share them in their own voices at our upcoming StudentsXpress SPEAKS! night.

I sing on my mom’s birthday because I want to show her how special she is. It’s important because it’s my talent and it is in my family history. I have relatives who sing and dance. Singing helps me calm and makes me free.

—Jazmine S., Brownell

I love music because you can dance, sing, it makes you happy and it’s fun. Some of the artists I like are Ariana Grande, Sam Smith, Katy Perry, Destiny Child, Miley Cyrus, Megan Trainor. Sam Smith’s song “Stay With Me” is kind of sad but it’s beautiful and I love it. Megan Trainor’s song “All About That Bass” is about your weight and it makes  you feel like you’re big and beautiful.

—Jasihyia, Lawndale

Olivia, Patrick Henry Elementary

Hi. My name is Olivia. I am 8 years old. What I am into right now is fashion. I like fashion because it doesn’t have to be plain or regular, it can be whatever you want it to be. I like hip-hop style and cool punk. I have shake it up high tops that my mom bought me. I also have a shirt that hangs off my shoulder and also has French words on it. I like lots of jewelry. I have like a thousand necklaces and lots of earrings. I even have a fake tiara that I got from a happy meal. I love glasses. Glasses make  you look fun, silly and cool. I think that everyone in the world should wear glasses because it would make them feel unique. The last thing I like is long hair. This is what I’m into now.

—Olivia, Patrick Henry Elementary

Charlie G., Waters Elementary

I am into gymnastics because it is fun. It is also very challenging. I am also into a good book. It is called Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures. It teaches me lots of things. I am also into a TV show. It is called Wild Kratts.

—Charlie G., Waters Elementary