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Eamonn Farrell
Adaptations of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are legion, and allusions in pop culture innumerable; with its barely concealed drug references, the story became particularly popular in the far-out '60s, most famously with Jefferson Airplane's psychedelic hit "White Rabbit." The latest riff on the tale, from multimedia theater troupe Anonymous Ensemble, incorporates live rock, simultaneous video projection, clowning, acrobatics, and modern dance to tell the tale of 34-year-old Alice, a frustrated administrative assistant who's watching her dreams of fame fade away.
Called A Wonderland, the spectacle begins with lonely, desperate Alice belting out a tinny, confessional torch song in front of a red curtain at the "Riverbank Cafe" open mic night. Dosed by a transvestite, she follows a sassy drag queen called "Blanche duBunny" into Wonderland, as he cranks out a raunchy song with such lyrics as "slide into my hole." The curtain falls away and Alice stumbles upstage through the looking glass, where she's suddenly famous for hosting a talk show. Unfortunately, she hasn't a clue what to do on the air, and so she wanders listlessly around Wonderland, which resembles nothing so much as the last throes of a debauched warehouse rave. The Mad Hatter is a bearded, drugged up hipster; the Cheshire Cat is a rope dancer; and the Queen towers over all on enormous stilts.
None of this is very novel, and almost all of the songs drag on for too long; it's a bad sign when a singer's announcement that "this song has four parts" fills you with dread. Some of the theatrical elements are imaginative, such as the Caterpillar, evoked Bunraku puppet style with those neon Hoberman Spheres. And the big, enthusiastic ensemble gives really it their all, from the band blasting upstage to the lunging, well-toned dancers. But Alice's adult meanderings through Wonderland lack a compelling narrative hook, and the neo-burlesque, multi-media aesthetic isn't quite fresh enough to compensate. For all its gender-bending, punk-circus theatrics, this rabbit hole doesn't run very deep, and feels pretty familiar.
A Wonderland was presented as part of Soho Think Tank's six week Ice Factory '09 Festival, which continues this week at the Ohio Theater with The Aztec Economy's Lavaman.
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I will try to be brief. My name is Susan Lambert and I have developed new works in the musical theatre industry as a performer, director, writer and coach for 30 years. I was in the audience of " A Wonderland" every night but Thursday and I am close to the creators.
My difficulty with your review is that besides not putting your name to it, I fear you have not done your homework or any research about the evolution of this piece and that your criticisms are grossly general and frankly immature.
The writer and composer have been creating this piece since February and this production was a workshop for them as this piece will undoubtedly grow, evolve and be produced again as it matures. This wildly detailed, spot on stylistic and energetic show was rehearsed in three weeks by performers and crew who also worked day jobs at the same time!
My experience in the three nights that I went was that the house was very oversold each night and the last night turning people away..and aside from laughs at appropriate moments and gasps of being moved, one could hear a pin drop each and every night and no-one squirmed, coughed, crinkled candy or left their seats to pee.
You made no mention of the talented cast and their tight and imaginative performances, led by the extraordinary Janelle Lannan, nor the surprising versatility of the music, by 21 year old Will Antoniou, in this rock and roll musical: another detail you failed to mention; nor the clever and visionary direction of Eamonn Farrell who made the most out of three days in the space and projected his bigger ideas through his immense talent as a producer as well!
To be fair, yes, the piece needs some work. Yes, some of the musical numbers are too long; though no-one that I saw was "dreading" anything, and certainly not "The One", which was the show stopper..( and by the way, try not to quote from the show unless you get the quote exactly right). Yes, the story needs expansion, Alice needs more agency and yes, some of the stage acrobatics are not new..but wow are they fun anyway!!
I am confident, having also seen their first bare bones reading in March, that Farrell and Antoniou will continue on this upward trajectory with their piece and am looking forward to the next time I can witness their wonderful work!!
Be careful my friend to generalize and to condemn in this day, when we all deserve support for our efforts and if you do feel you'd like to criticize, do your homework, get some experience in learning what good writing is and choose your quotes well!
Sorry John..I do see your name at the bottom. My mistake!