While balancing home life, school life, and now the musical Alice By Heart, OVS junior Zooey Halbrook can do it all.
Rooted in the musical theatre industry since fourth grade, Zooey carries a passion for the art of performance.
“I love theatre. I’ve been doing it for quite a long time, so it was just another opportunity that was a step up from youth theatre, so it’s a little more advanced,” Zooey said.
Alice by Heart is a musical-theatre production that reimagines Alice in Wonderland, set during the London Blitz of World War 2.
It follows two friends, Alfred and Alice, down the rabbit hole of the London underground. When tuberculosis hospitalizes Alfred, Alice comes on the scene to soothe him with her favorite book. The faculty of the hospital takes her book, but Alice knows it by heart.
Zooey has a long track record of performing in community theater.
“I got to Ojai, then I started doing plays through (the Ojai Art Center),” Zooey said. “My first play was in 2021, it was Willy Wonka Jr., then Shrek The Musical Jr., then a year after that, it was Alice in Wonderland, ironically, then Into the Woods, now we’re here.”
Playing the Cheshire Cat, the work is pretty hard, causing Zooey to leave sports on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
“It’s pretty intense,” she said. “We have four-hour rehearsals for choreography and blocking, and on Saturdays, we have three-hour music rehearsals in the mornings. And it’s only going to get worse, since this is the start.”
The workload from both home life and school life, and now this could take a toll, especially during college essay season for the juniors.
OVS college counselor Fred Alvarez said he is not worried about Zooey’s ability to keep pace with it all.
“Sure, the workload might be hard but I think she’s going to be fine,” Mr. Alvarez said. “She’s smart, she works hard, and in so many ways this is going to add to her life.”