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of 'this jazz club' that I wanted to use as my setting, but I couldn't pinpoint where it was or where I had seen it — if it was just a figment of my imagination. "Flash forward to December 2020. It was a beautiful winter afternoon, and I found myself at the remains of Wonderland Cave. It was magical. I sat by the fireplace in the snow and just let my imagination take me where it would as I remembered being inside the cave [almost two decades ago] and what it might have been like in its heyday. That's when it clicked, and I realized I was sitting 500 feet above the jazz club I had been 'imagining.' From that point, my obsession with Wonderland Cave totally took over my life, and I really started to give life to the story." In Bradley's script, a bootlegging jazz singer named Faye Chambers lands a job at Wonderland Cave and "infiltrates the club with her moonshine-makin' brothers." "The Feds take notice of their scheme and send one of their best undercover agents, John Calderon (Heath Adam Cates)," Bradley explains. "Unaware of his true intentions, Faye finds herself madly in love with John, but must face the music and make a dangerous decision when she learns the truth. "I was inspired to create a female character that's actually fun to play and would challenge me as an actress and filmmaker, which is SO the character of Faye," Bradley says. "She's someone just as mischievous as she is innocent; not fully ever bad and not fully ever good. She's a big dreamer, but at the end of the day she … does what she has to do to survive." Covid-19 The same might be said of Bradley. Passionate about filmmaking, she moved to Colorado after attending the University of Arkansas. There, she says, she met "mentors and colleagues who became my (film) family and helped me build a foundation in the Colorado and New Mexico commercial, TV and film markets — the same core team of people who help me navigate the industry to this day." By March 2020, Bradley was a full- time actress and acting coach, and life, she says, was good. "I'm actually in Jo Edna Boldin's office auditioning for 'Stranger Things,' thinking 'this is it,'" she remembers. "I walk out of the audition, and I'm immediately notified by Marie, her assistant at the time, that production was put on hold indefinitely due to covid … and one by one, that's what started happening to all productions. So work dried up incredibly fast for me. "Even more scary, many people I knew were getting sick. My husband and I both have family members who are high risk, so in April 2020 he and I moved back to Northwest Arkansas, and I brought my love of film with me." Bradley admits she didn't go to film school, although she has taught and studied at some of the best. "I would have absolutely loved to have gone, though! I tell every film student I can to not take their time at school for granted and to go make films! You have access to free equipment that will never be free again. Make your film! "The film 'school' I attended was all hands-on experience, working on film and commercial sets and interning at studios, prior to landing a job as a producer and instructor in addition to acting," Bradley goes on. "Throughout my career I have worked with some of the best acting coaches in the business, as well as other mentors and artists who have so selflessly poured their time and knowledge into me and made me a better artist. An excellent example of this is when I was having doubts about directing and acting in 'Wonderland Cave,' my coach Joanna Baron — who had been specifically working with me on acting and directing and was pretty upset about my self doubt — got me on a Zoom call with Halle Berry, who had recently finished directing and acting in 'Bruised.' By the time Halle was finished with me, I was singing battle cries and ready to film! She's so inspiring!" 'Wonderland Cave' "I had heard about the cave from my grandfather, but what really sparked my interest was my husband," Bradley says. "In a valiant effort to impress me, JANUARY 8-14, 2023 WHAT'S UP! 9 See Wonderland Page 39 Henry Freeman plays a newspaper boy in the film. (Courtesy Photo) Justin Stewart plays Clarence Love, a saxophone player and big band leader who was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2019. "Clarence wanted to be a musician just like Duke Ellington," Stewart says, "and eventually became a great musician. In the film Clarence Love and Faye Chambers form a solid friendship" as Love takes Chambers under his wing at Wonderland Cave. (Courtesy Photo)