Several variations of Alice in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass, have been created over the past 140 years – the latest being CYT-East County’s new rock musical version that premiered at the Lyceum last weekend. This elaborate, ambitious production mixes the magic and nonsensical mirth of the original while tweaking the plot to focus on Alice’s search to figure out what she wants to do when she grows up, which happens to be her homework assignment. Set in the modern day, Alice is a student in Miss Turtle’s class donning a school uniform and trying to complete her homework so that she can go to the highly anticipated Red Queen’s rock concert. Of course, lessons can be quite boring, and Alice dozes off in her bedroom to be awoken later by a White Rabbit (her lovely sister Edina played by Charlotte Cantelon heading off to a costume party at the Red Queen’s concert).

The gifted Jon Lorenz wrote the book, lyrics and music, as well as directed this remarkable show filled with clever and humorous twists to the story and a wide variety of spectacular music with lyrics full of wit and wisdom (although unfortunately too many of the lyrics were drowned out as either the music was too loud or the voice microphones too soft). A large and talented ensemble breathes fresh life into the music and its host of unusual characters, and an imaginative crew of designers make certain that the visuals rocked as strongly as the music with rich lighting effects, vibrant costumes, and impressive sets.

The first act is especially strong, with the Falling scene really getting the show flying as Alice (Janet Paraiso) falls and flips through a surreal rabbit hole with black lighting illuminating various props that are falling with her and concealing the dark forms using sticks to swirl the props around and tumble Alice through the air under Jason Russell’s cool choreography. She ends up in a dark, mist-filled room full of several doors that spin about independent of one another, each leading to a unique destiny.

After briefly experiencing various careers (including one as a man and one as a fairy tale character), she ends up in several Wonderland scenes including finding herself surrounded by a garden of snooty flowers who don’t think much of Alice’s petals and encourage her to make like a tree and leave. Which leads her to an even snootier and more critical caterpillar (Corey Springett) who, with his host of amusing hands running the length of his humongous body, keeps asking Alice a most difficult question – “Who are you?” Then there is her hilarious encounter at a book signing with popular author of childrearing morals, Missi Duchet, who from atop her ever-moving soapbox offers the most horrible and cruel advice on childcare, all dispensed with a sugary smile and fantastic voice by Courtney Evans while her adoring fans (self-serving parents) are completely “wowed” by her. It is there that she first runs into the smiling Cheshire Cat (Robby Hambrick) who greets her in the next scene standing next to a lamppost in a Central Park-like setting (an allusion to Memory from Cats? Or perhaps the other wonderland of Narnia?). The Cheshire Cat is joined by four “carbon copy cats” who back him up in the groovy, 70ish Mad Mad Wonderland song-and-dance routine, and he soon teaches Alice how to have her own split personality as she and her carbon copies join in. After all, as the Cat says, everyone is mad here…

Which of course brings us to the Mad Hatter (Zack Wolfe), the March Hare (Troy McKinney), and a narcoleptic Dormouse (Juliann Friel) at a famous tea party in what is the most hysterical scene of the show as Alice gets treated and mistreated by her three hosts. What begins as a semi-proper English tea (with Alice now finding herself in traditional “Alice in Wonderland” attire), soon spins off into Spain, Italy, France, the Deep South, and TV Land, all concluding with the Dormouse’s story about three girls who lived at the bottom of a pudding well and were quite sick because of it (as demonstrated by pompoms of puke).

After all this, Alice has become truly confused as to who she is, much less what she wants to be when she grows up. But the rest of the play begins to give her a clue as to at least what kind of person she wants to be when her adventures have her leading a frightened, cowering group of villagers in a battle against a monstrous Jabberwocky (a beautifully staged scene with brilliant lighting effects and an enormous dragon whose long, hulking body writhes across the stage as smoke puffs from its cavernous jaws). A meeting with a much gentler monster, a Unicorn (Lorenzo Penney), teaches her to believe in all possibilities (and impossibilities), a lesson from the Mock Turtle (not to be confused with the real teacher Miss Turtle) teaches her the basics of Reeling & Writhing with an upbeat gospel-like number belted out by the dynamic Amanda Friel, the Tweedle brothers (Tim Manns and Jonathan Smith) teach her how not to get along as they battle ninja style over nothing at all, a kindly White Knight (Jesse Abeel) comforts and encourages her with his melodiously sung A Song to Comfort You, and the Red Queen/Queen of Hearts (Dana Vincent as a prima donna rock star who fires her subjects rather than beheading them) gives Alice the chance to believe in impossible things and become a queen.

Performs through May 23, 2004.

Rob Hopper
San Diego Playbill

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