The Blog of the LCSNA
Carroll-related performing arts posts
“The French company Opéra national du Rhin Ballet premiered Alice Feb. 11–13, 2022, in Mulhouse, and Feb. 18–19 in Strasbourg. ‘With a new score by Philip Glass, a figurehead of American minimalism, choreographers Amir Hosseinpour and Jonathan Lunn reimagine and reinvent Carroll’s fantastical world. Freed from the original narrative, the dancers of the OnR Ballet… [read full post]
Gerald Barry’s hour-long surreal opera Alice’s Adventures under Ground was composed in 2016. The world premiere concert performance took place in LA and a week later in London (KL 98:39). In 2020, a fully staged production took place at the The Barbican Centre, a co-production of the Irish National Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent… [read full post]
In this Zoom talk from the V&A, Simon Sladen explores the many adaptations of Carroll’s tale, from 1886’s inaugural stage production to 2020’s Alice in Streamingland created during lockdown. Key films will also be considered as he seeks to analyze the books’ enduring legacy and significant relationship with the performing arts. Simon Sladen is Senior… [read full post]
A ticketed online opera will be streamed by the activist opera group White Snake Projects on Oct. 23-27. “The heroine of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books navigates an absurd alternate reality, and that idea spoke to the composer Jorge Sosa and the librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs during this chaotic year. Their virtual opera, Alice in the… [read full post]
Walt Disney first saw Miss Beaumont in a 1948 Esther Williams vehicle called On an Island with You, which led to her being cast as Alice and later, Wendy. Her elocution, accent, voice, and appeal are unmistakable here, even when she’s imitating Jimmy Durante! You can rent the movie on Amazon Prime or You Tube,… [read full post]
Creation Theatre of the UK is offering Alice: A Virtual Theme Park throughout the month of August. It sounds like you will go between a “Wonderland” virtual experience and Zoom meetings with the cast (in character) and other participants. They also recommend having a deck of cards at hand. Shows must be booked in advance…. [read full post]
Young Canadian composer Jason Noble sees the Internet as Alice’s Wonderland. In a 23-minute a cappella choral piece (with narration) in eight chapters, Furiouser and Spuriouser, he explores their parallels. The composition was created at Pro Coro Canada’s Choral Art: Conductors and Composers program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2018. You… [read full post]
Dr. April Lynn James wears many different hats—award-winning singer & scholar, librarian, creative educator exploring the intersection of the arts, spirituality, and wellness. The guardian angel of her sense of humor, Madison Hatta, Sonneteer, has written many Alice-related poems, published under the title “The Twinkle Bat Variations.” You can now hear them as a series… [read full post]
London’s Royal Opera House will be presenting Gerald Barry’s opera Alice’s Adventures Under Ground February 3–9 , 2020. Described as “fun, furious, frantic, and utterly fantastic! The surreal world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice, both in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is given an extra twist in operatic treatment. At less than an hour for… [read full post]
The enormously popular American singer-songwriter, actress, and director Melanie Martinez (b. 1995) is somewhat sui generis; The Guardian describes her music as “off-kilter, sweary electropop.” Her debut studio album, Cry Baby (2015), which went on to be certified platinum, contains a song called “Mad Hatter,” obviously based on the two Disney movies (1951, 2010) rather… [read full post]
