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Alice, The Musical, in Wonderland by J*Company  On a golden afternoon in 1862, Lewis Carroll told a fanciful
story of a talkative, ever-late White Rabbit who wears a pocket watch, a crazy
Cheshire Cat whose wide, toothy grin can still be seen long after the rest of
him is gone, a Mad Hatter and March Hare who host the oddest eternal tea party,
and a Queen of Hearts who rules over a deck of cards and greets anything she
dislikes with the order “Off with their head!” It was a Wonderland where
everything is topsy-turvy nonsense – not at all like the dry textbooks and
stiff morality tales that were all children were ever exposed to in Victorian
England. And Carroll made Alice Liddell, the little girl who inspired it (and
who would later name one of her sons “Caryl”) the heroine who is bemused,
amazed, and sometimes frustrated by the wacky world she found by chasing that
White Rabbit down the rabbit hole.
With a catchy new musical score by Michael Lancy and an energetic cast of youth age 7 to 13, Director Becky Cherlin and J*Company are putting on a fun and visually beautiful production of this classic story. That story is set amongst a gorgeous scenery (Chris Rynne) of a lush forest strewn with curvy and hily paths with a background that includes a circular, psychadelic spiral that appears to be swirling under Mitchell Simkovsky’s lighting effects. The cast features the charmingly sweet Sasha Altschuler as Alice who sings the wistfully lovely Going Home. The irresistible Sophie Vener plays the amusing, tell-it-like-it-is Cheshire Cat who loves to Smile. Alice Cash is a moralizing riot with her regally insufferable voice and mannerisms. The dangerously moody Queen of Hearts is amusingly played by Emily Mann opposite her king (Ariel Smotrich) of infinitely smaller stature size-wise and power-wise. Gaby Maio and Beth Jacobs are a hoot as the dancing, playing and, contrariwise, fighting twin brothers Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. The Mad Hatter (Philip Greenberg), March Hare (Adam Faison), and Dormouse (Bibi Valderama) serve up a most entertaining party of tea and nonsense. Rayna Starr is the ever-tardy White Rabbit, and Ashley Abed is the haughty caterpillar followed about by all his “legs” performed by ensemble members. That huge ensemble of caterpillar legs, cards, and chess pieces are a thoroughly engaging group filled with beautiful voices. In one of the best scenes of the show, the white roses (that the cards are desperately trying to paint “red”) are played by the youngest ensemble members donning white petals, dancing about under Becky Cherlin’s choreography, with their adorable voices upsetting the cards by insisting that they are White, White Roses. That’s sure not going to go over well with the red-loving Queen of Hearts, and surely some cards are going to want to go home with Alice. But, as the Cheshire Cat sadly explains, the strange but lovable characters of Wonderland can’t come into our world. We can only see them in our dreams, and on our stages.Performs through May 23, 2004.
~ Cast ~
Alice: Sasha Altschuler Cheshire Cat: Sophie Vener White Rabbit: Rayna Starr Caterpillar: Ashley Abed Cook: Ari Krasner Duchess: Alice Cash Frog: Zoe Eprile Mad Hatter: Philip Greenberg March Hare: Adam Faison Dormouse: Bibi Valderama Queen: Emily Mann King: Ariel Smotrich Tweedle Dee: Gaby Maio Tweedle Dum: Beth Jacobs Caterpillar Legs & Chess Pieces: White Roses: Cards: Croquet Court: Director/Choreographer: Becky Cherlin |