The recent PACE fall play, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” follows the story of a toy rabbit who becomes a more loving and selfless rabbit after his journey through multiple owners. Adapted by Dwayne Hartford, the play is performed by two casts with 36 total members, and was performed from the 17th to the 20th of November. Despite being adapted from a children’s book, Mr. Moore explains that it has very adult themes such as relationships, and self growth.

The cast held auditions the first week of school, instead of the end of the previous year as usual. The production was moved back a few weeks, but rehearsals started the second week of school. After the casting was decided, members of the play were called in to run  specific scenes. Once closer to the date of the play, they were split into two different casts, who performed on separate nights, and ran through the whole production at rehearsals. Despite being mostly ensemble based, the lead role of “Edward” was played by Xander Burt and Hannah Sodickson, while the role of “Traveller” was played by Wilson Moroz and Layla Hoffmann. Mr. Moore, who has been teaching the PACE program at Mamaroneck High School for 11 years, directed the play. The fall play was one of many productions in the school year, including Soundscapes, which revolves around music and is student directed. 

Due to COVID-19, masks were worn throughout the production, which Gabrielle Taylor (‘24), who played Lucy and Marlene, thought restricted the acting, as “facial expressions are harder to see through masks.” Although the production got moved back a few weeks due to the late auditions, Hannah Sodickson appreciated the extra time, since it gave the cast and crew extra time to prepare for the production.

 One of the options in PACE is to join the crew, although it is available to students not in the PACE program as well. Stage crew, which consists of backstage and tech, started rehearsals on November 10 and were at rehearsals for around three hours. Tech crew controlled sound and lighting, while the backstage crew controlled the curtains and moved set pieces onto the stage, as well as making sure the props were in place. 

Tessa Feinbloom (‘25), who was part of the backstage crew, thought rehearsals were interesting, since “It’s cool to be backstage and see all the inner workings of the props and sets that go on during the play.” Sodickson thought similarly, saying how it was interesting to see the director’s perspective on how to perform the lines, as well as being able to become close to the rest of the cast. The play was talked about very positively by Mr. Moore, who said that it has very adult themes. Even with their different roles in the production, Feinbloom, Sodickson, and Taylor all had fantastic experiences as members of the cast and crew of “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.”