There’s a new theater piece called Alice, premiering tonight at the Theatre of Yugen, 2840 Mariposa Street in San Francisco (running September 9th through 19th), directed and “imagined” by Allison Combs. As a work of “movement theatre,” it’s about 60% interpretive dance and 40% dialogue, easily juggling different genres of theater with different types of music, and varying levels of seriousness & silliness.
Alice, in her traditional blue outfit but played by a leggy adult actor/dancer (Megan Trout), is already exhausted on the stage when the audience is allowed to enter. (“Is that Alice?” asked a young girl behind me, Alice having already silently begun her opening number while an usher noisily hobbled past her to turn off a loud fan & the audience settled in.) This Alice starts out with grown-up anxieties, obsessive-compulsively counting numbers, and reassuring herself repeatedly “okay, okay, okay.” In contrast to the wildness she’s about to encounter, we realize that her troubled state of mind at the beginning is her supposed normalcy.
Then, instead of a white rabbit, she is shaken from her routine by a single playing card falling from the sky. A tribe of five strange savages in rags starts to mess with her by taking her thru the mind-and-body-changing adventures of Wonderland, loosely inspired by the stuff that happens in Carroll’s book. (While Alice was exploring the corridor, before it really gets going, the child behind me declared “This is upsetting because it’s boring.”) Growing, shrinking, falling, mushrooms, being stuck in a house, scary forests, and all manner of psychedelic abstractions are created by the weird tribe with their flexible interlocking limbs, in extremely creative ways. Only using their bodies, a caterpillar sits on a mushroom, and when he sucks on one of their fingers, the whole mushroom inhales & exhales. It’s most fun during the wild dance numbers, with their very cool choreography; it drags a little during the dialog, which like so many Alice in Wonderland adaptations, is always a lot less clever than Carroll’s original. For some reason, their amazing Cheshire Cat, very feline & Kabuki-ish, stuck closer to Carroll’s words, and was consequently much more powerful.
After Alice has gone native, a new square-peg (named Lewis) also finds himself lost in Wonderland, and by this time Alice has already become one of the weird savages. Lewis’s unhappy anal-retention makes us realize what Wonderland is to these people: everything ‘other’ in American society. Their Wonderland is part hippie, part hipster, part Burning Man, part mushroom trip, totally gay, multi-cultural and sexy. It has games with no rules, self-examination, community, humor, and of course lots of dancing and singing. It’s also dirty. Uptight Lewis rejects it outright, and even Alice eventually wakes up. But she’s definitely dirtier than before her trip to Wonderland (“Is she dripping sweat?” asked the child behind me.)
Atmos Theatre, a volunteer-run theater company in San Francisco, has adapted Alice in Wonderland for its ninth season of “Theatre in the Woods.” It’s been happening every Saturday & Sunday in August and through September 19th in Woodside, California (a few cities south of San Francisco.) “‘Alice in Wonderland’ is performed as part of a guided hike through our redwood-filled forest property.” It sounds beautiful but, unfortunately, the entire run is completely sold out!
The original adaptation is by Brian Markley and directed by Amy Clare Tasker.
Theatre in the Woods features two stages and a variety of performance spots along our trails. Our Main Stage, nestled with a beautiful backdrop of redwood trees behind it, features natural benches made out of redwood planks and stumps. Our Amphitheatre Stage at Harrington Creek features natural amphitheatre seating carved out of the hillside. We provide blankets on the earth benches for a perfect view of the forest stage opposite the creek. And the acoustics are fantastic!
There’s a casting call up right now at Playbill.com for The Hunting of the Snark, a stage adaptation for the Manhattan Repertory Theatre’s Fall Fest. The full listing gives a good feel for what the play might be like, so I’ll quote it at length:
Frontispiece to Fit the Second, from Mahendra Singh's illustrations
“The Hunting of the Snark” is a theatrical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s poem of the same name. This production is a part of Manhattan Repertory Theatre’s Fall Fest. This is a wonderful whirlwind opportunity to collaborate with several emerging artists at a theater in mid-town!
Rehearsals begin August 16th. Performances are September 16, 17, and 19. Times TBA.
Looking for 12 actors of either gender and any ethnicity from ages 25-30. A plus if you play any unique instruments, can perform simple magic tricks, are great with sound effects, or have experience with simple dance/movement.
CAST:
The Bellman – Crazy for hunting the Snark
Bonnets – A shy, clingy individual
Barrister – Victim to Snark hallucination
Broker – Fast-paced individual
Butcher – Acts like a dunce, but it is revealed he knows everything about natural history
Beaver – The Bellman’s sidekick. Knows what’s what before everyone else
Baker – The person behind the proper method of hunting the Snark
Banker – Brought on board at enormous expense
Billiards-Maker – Sly, only wants to have fun, but quickly discovers how dangerous this is. **Simple magic tricks are a plus**
Snark – Thinks that it’s in control of the show
Creatures (3) – One of the creatures on the island. They set the mood and scene for much that happens on the island. **Seeking movers/dancers, individuals who can play unique instruments, and vocalists**
Adapted by Katie Dickinson
Directed by Nathan Gregorski
Choreographed by Shannon McPhee
Thanks Mahendra Singh for the tip, and he adds: “maybe this will be our long-awaited Summer of Snark … have you gone down to Snark Island with some Boojums in your hair, etc etc.” There are also moviesand new editions in the works. (Singh’s beautiful new illustrations for the Snark are being published by Melville House this November – pre-order it on Amazon here, and see examples on his blog here!)
Back in November, Frank Wildhorn’s musical “Wonderland: A New Alice” premiered in Tampa Bay Florida. Yesterday it was announced that they are heading for Broadway and the big time. The show is set to open on April 17, 2011 and previews will begin a month before. The cast is yet to be announced.
“Journey with a modern-day Alice to Wonderland and the Looking-Glass World where she must find her daughter, defeat the Queen and learn to follow her heart…”
A synopsis, video montage, and musical clips from the 2009 production can still be enjoyed on this blog.
Thanks to Mahendra Singh for reminding us that 136 years ago today Lewis Carroll began his composition of The Hunting of the Snark, “and thus, in a semiotic and hypermetaphysical manner, began decomposing the non-existence of The Hunting of the Snark.” Read more at his excellent blog.
In celebration of Snark Day, here is the full text the first edition, published by Macmillan and Co. in 1876.
In lieu of a rendition of “Happy Birthday To You,” we suggest listening to Billy Connolly as the Bellman in the 1987 April Fool’s Day performance of Mike Batt’s Snark musical. When the musical was originally released as a concept album in 1986, the part of the Bellman was sung by Cliff Richard, possibly the only time Billy Connolly and Cliff Richard have proved substitutable in popular culture.
Finally, Mr. Singh (an LCSNA member and Knight Letter editor) is publishing his own beautiful Snark illustrations, coming out November 2nd, 2010, from Melville House, and it’s already available for pre-order on Amazon.com here. Only $10.08! (Don’t be fooled by Amazon’s “look inside,” it links to another edition.) Previews of many of Singh’s illustrations can be seen on his blog, and I’ve reprinted one below.
From Mahendra Singh's illustrations for Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark
Alice in Slasherland, photograph by Jim Baldassare in the New York Times
TheVampire Cowboys Theater Companyout of Brooklyn is just finishing up a run of a play called Alice in Slasherland by Qui Nguyen at the Here Arts Center (145 Avenue of the Americas, NYC). The main characters journeying thru Horror movie parodies are named Lewis and Alice, but it’s not clear how much deeper than that the Carroll framework goes. The director Robert Ross Parker summed it up best in theNew York Times review: “‘It’s like the story Alice in Wonderland,’ he says, before backtracking absurdly. ‘Which this situation actually doesn’t resemble at all. Like in any way. Not even in theme. Huh. Well, I guess that was a pretty useless observation.’”
Tonight is the world premier of Exposure Time by Kim Merrill at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, New Jersey. Is this the first time a work of drama has centered on Charles Dodgson the photographer? Merrill’s play won the 2009 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award. Here is some of the blurb from the press release, “Alice Through the Camera Lens”:
While Johnny Depp portrays the Mad Hatter on movie screens around the world this winter, Lewis Carroll, the conflicted creator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, will be on stage at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, fighting passionately to be known not as a
children’s author but as Charles Dodgson, the greatest portrait photographer in the British Empire. Standing in his way is the larger-than-life and now tragically forgotten Julia Margaret Cameron, who was the Annie Leibovitz of her day and a constant thorn in Dodgson’s side. The real Alice will be there as well, trying to sort out her complex relationship with Dodgson, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the Victorian Idol of a society that worshiped its poets like rock stars. The world premiere of Exposure Time runs from February 11 through March 21, with an Opening Night performance and High Tea on Saturday, February 13.
A magical journey into the literary heart of Victorian England, Exposure Time is a perfect play for young teens and above. Schools are invited to contact NJ Rep to discuss booking special discounted matinee performances that include lesson plans and post-show discussions with the actors.
Discounted previews are Thursday and Friday, February 11 and 12 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Regular performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m., with selected Sundays performances at 7 p.m. as well as Thursday and Friday matinees by prior arrangement for students and other groups. Tickets are $40; $35 for previews; $60, opening night; $36 for seniors and students (except opening night); with discounts for groups of ten or more.
There is a review and interview with Ms. Merrill in the Red Bank Orbit here. Tickets can be purchased online here.
Given plenty of money and a reliable seat cushion, I am relatively certain that a keen fan could see 365 different community theater productions of “Alice in Wonderland” this year. Amongst the ever-popular homages to the Disney film, it is always nice to hear of a production that takes a more local angle. “Alice In Dingleland” promises just that.
Dingle is a neighborhood of the English city of Liverpool. Liverpudlians, also known as Scousers, have a strong regional identity and an even stronger accent (think early Beatles).
Following on the success of their first pantomime “Cinderella and her American Fella,” the Dingle Community Theatre, have created a “scousalized pantomime” version of Alice in Wonderland:
“Alice In Dingleland” follows the journey of ‘posh’ Alice as she is transformed into a true Scouser after following the white rabbit into the Williamson Tunnels.
Using local settings as our inspirations… Dickinson’s Dingle beauty spot, the Tunnels and Princes Park, we have encountered many characters such as the Scouse Mouse, Dave the Knave “I’m innocent, it’s a stitch up”, the militant gardeners, “you’re a name not a number”. The White Rabbit of course, and the double act that is the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, “Mad, Mad I’m fuming!”
“Alice In Dingleland” will be at the Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG, United Kingdom on the 16 and 17 February, 2010.
Frank Wildhorn is the musical theater composer who brought the world Jekyll & Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel at a comparatively young age. Wonderland: Alice’s New Musical Adventure will be playing the counties for the next few months with aspirations of Broadway. The World Premier will be in Florida at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on November 24th, and run thru January 3rd, 2010. It will then leap to the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas.
Here’s the blurb with a synopsis from their website:
Now, they are most definitely and exactually BACK!
In this world premiere of a new musical by lyricist Jack Murphy, book writers Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd and acclaimed composer Frank Wildhorn, Alice is a children’s book writer in Manhattan who is suffering through a creative block, estranged from her husband and alienated from her daughter. It takes a trip to a strange-yet-familiar Wonderland for her to regain her life’s balance and again find the love and everyday magic that reside in us all – if we know how to look.
Wildhorn’s score taps into numerous pop styles, and Murphy’s lyrics provide both wit and wisdom.
Be among the first to see this exciting new production.
There must be something in the zeitgeist that there’s so many older-Alice-returning projects to hit simultaneously. (Or is this a perennial take on classic children’s literature?) What follows is a slideshow with one of the songs, ending with an advertisement: “Journey with a modern-day Alice to Wonderland and the Looking-Glass World where she must find her daughter, defeat the Queen and learn to follow her heart…”
And here’s a few more musical clips from their website:
Opening the Ice Factory Festival at NYC’s Ohio Theatre, Anonymous Ensemble’s A Wonderland plays July 8 through July 11. “Alice, a talented, urban dreamer approaching middle age, is caught in a quagmire of diminishing potential, corporate insignificance and the mirage of celebrity. This is Lewis Carroll deconstructed by the mind of a modern, mature songstress on a journey of self-identity. A befeathered spectacle; a psychedelic, multimedia/music-fueled trip down the rabbit hole.”
While Johnny Depp portrays the Mad Hatter on movie screens around the world this winter, Lewis Carroll, the conflicted creator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, will be on stage at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, fighting passionately to be known not as a
