Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure
Encyclopedia
Wonderland: A New Alice, formerly called Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure, is a musical
with a book
by Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd, lyrics by Murphy, and music by Frank Wildhorn
. The story, a contemporary version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
and Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll
, is set in New York City
and focuses on writer Alice Cornwinkle, a descendant of Alice Liddell
, and her 10-year-old daughter Chloe.
After various workshops and productions of the musical in Tampa, Florida
and Houston, Texas
, the show premiered on Broadway
on April 17, 2011, closing a month later, on May 15, 2011.
and Jack Murphy previously collaborated on The Civil War
, Waiting For The Moon
, The Count of Monte Cristo, and the unproduced musical Havana, and have written songs for Linda Eder
. Gregory Boyd has directed productions of Wildhorn's Svengali
(for which he penned the lyrics), Jekyll & Hyde
, and The Civil War (for which he contributed lyrics and dialogue with Murphy).
Wonderland is the first production mounted by the Broadway Genesis Project, whose goal is to help create new theatre works specifically for the Tampa Bay
market, after which they may be staged in other performing arts centers or move to Broadway.
Wildhorn began working on the project in the late 1990s. He initially conceived an Alice similar to the one in the 1951 Disney animated feature
and envisioned his then-fiancé, Brandi Burkhardt
, in the title role, but as time passed, the two ended their engagement, and the role seemed to be passed to another Wildhorn leading lady Lauren Kennedy
. In 2005, Wildhorn announced that the musical would premiere in 2006 in Europe, but this did not occur. The show was workshopped starring Burkhardt in the title role in Tampa, Florida
in 2007, with a presentation of four songs (these still appear in the show in some form). The project then focused on the scripts, and TBPAC agreed to make the show its first project.
In the summer of 2007, at a "Wildhorn & Friends" concert in Graz, Austria, Burkhardt premiered the song "Once More I Can See", with orchestra, and Wildhorn announced that the show would premiere in Tampa in 2009. The project had its first reading in Manhattan
on March 20, 2009. It featured Lauren Kennedy
as Alice, Julie Brooks as Chloe, Nikki Snelson
as the Mad Hatter, and Julia Murney
as the Queen.
was chosen to choreograph, and costume designs were by Susan Hilferty
. In April 2009, auditions were held in Manhattan and at what was then the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Casting was complete by August. The cast included Janet Dacal
as Alice, Karen Mason
as the Queen of Hearts, Nikki Snelson as the Mad Hatter, Eugene Fleming as the Caterpillar, Jose Llana as El Gato, Ed Staudenmayer as the White Rabbit, Darren Ritchie
as Jack/White Knight, and Julie Brooks as Chloe. The creative team included scenic designer Neil Patel
, lighting designer Paul Gallo
, and projection designer Sven Ortel. Rehearsals began on October 12, 2009.
Wonderland began previews on November 24, 2009 and opened on December 5 at Ferguson Hall in The David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida
, where it ran through January 3, 2010. The musical next moved to the Alley Theatre
, Houston, starting in previews on January 15, 2010 and opening on January 20, running through February 14. The musical was budgeted at USD$3.3 million. According to a report by Straz Center, "the estimated local economic impact...is more than $8.1 million", and noted that "nearly 750 full and part-time jobs [were] impacted". The show played to 96% capacity in Tampa.
The production transferred to Houston, opening January 20, 2010 at the Alley Theatre
, with previews beginning January 15. It closed on February 14, 2010. The book was rewritten after the Tampa engagement. At the time of the Houston opening, Boyd said: "The book we have now is quite different from the book that opened in Tampa. And we're putting in more changes, including four new songs." Producer Judy Lisi discussed the decisions being made about the show's next step: "Does it make sense to tour it first? Does it make sense to bring it in (to Broadway)? I really want to see how far we get in Houston to be able to determine the next stage of the development."
The show had a new subtitle: Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical and the book was drastically re-written, the roles of the Caterpillar, Chloe and the Mad Hatter were recast (with E. Clayton Cornelius, Carly Rose Soneclar and Kate Shindle), a character (Morris, the Hatter's side-kick, the March Hare) was added, and a character was deleted (Jabberwock). The revised score featured many of the new songs from the 2010 Houston production, as well as re-implementing the song "Don't Wanna Fall in Love", and adding two others.
at the Marquis Theatre
on April 17, 2011, with previews beginning March 21. The cast included Janet Dacal
as Alice, Darren Ritchie
as White Knight and Jack/Lewis Carroll, Jose Llana
as El Gato, Karen Mason
as the Queen of Hearts, Kate Shindle
as the Mad Hatter, Carly Rose Sonenclar as Chloe, and Edward Staudenmayer as the White Rabbit. Tituss Burgess
was originally cast as the Caterpillar but was later replaced by E. Clayton Cornelious. Boyd directs, Derricks choreographs, and the design team is the same, except for the addition of sound designer Peter Hylenski.
On February 6, it was reported that the musical was short of USD$10 million on a $14 million captilization. The producers, however, announced that "The show is on schedule and we are very thrilled about the work that was done in Florida." The New York Post
reported that several producers wanted to bring in additional help. The Nederlanders engaged Scott Ellis
to restage the musical and Rupert Holmes
to help shape the book. The production closed on May 15, 2011, after 31 previews and 33 performances. On closing night, Ritchie proposed to Dacal on stage, and she accepted.
Masterworks Broadway released an original cast recording of the show on May 3, 2011.
Act 1
Author Alice Cornwinkle and her daughter have just moved to the Queens, New York so that Alice can have some space from her husband. Her young daughter, Chloe, laments about the move and her family's demise, as Alice notes that her life isn't going in the direction she had hoped ("Worst Day Of My Life"). Edwina, Jack's mother, is cooking dinner for Chloe. Alice, who has just hit her head on the light of the building's service elevator, receives her children's book manuscript back from the publishers, who have coldly rejected it. As she lays down, she is awoken by a white rabbit
who she follows down to Wonderland
("Down the Rabbit Hole").
In Wonderland, she encounters strange people and creatures who are dressed with outlandish flair ("Welcome to Wonderland"). She tries to discover why she has been brought there, and finds a mysterious drink ("Drink Me"). She then encounters the Caterpillar
, whose advice is to follow in the footsteps of El Gato (the Cheshire Cat
) to find out who she is ("Advice from a Caterpillar" and "Go With the Flow"). El Gato believes himself to be invisible, but he has lost the power; the characters in Wonderland "don't have the heart to tell him". El Gato leads her to the White Rabbit, who introduces her to Jack, the White Knight. He promises to save her at all means ("One Knight") and invites her to the Tea Party ("The Mad Tea Party").
At the party, the Mad Hatter
announces with flair that she intends to rule things in Wonderland ("The Mad Hatter"). She reads Alice's tea leaves, commenting on Alice's bad qualities as the Queen
arrives. The Queen announces that she is the ruler and all must obey her, or it will be off with your head ("All Hail the Queen"). Alice promises the Queen a brand new kingdom – one that is full of queens in order to have her sentence pardoned. The Hatter, angry, goes with Morris the March Hare
to find her revenge on Alice who is a threat to the Hatter's plans. The Rabbit, El Gato, Caterpillar and Jack the White Knight all agree to help Alice find the service elevator that brought her there. Alice just wants to go home, as she and Chloe, in their new apartment, yearn for the way things used to be ("Home").
The Mad Hatter, who uses the name "Maddie", and the March Hare ascend up the rabbit hole to Chloe's bedroom. They convince Chloe to come with them to help with Alice and Jack's marriage treatment to bring the family closer together ("A Nice Little Walk"). Chloe goes with them to Wonderland. However, the Hatter takes Chloe to the Land of the Looking-Glass, the Hatter's side of the kingdom where she captures and changes her prisoners. Jack agrees to help Alice in exchange for a kiss, as the White Rabbit makes mention of this news. Together, Alice, Jack, Rabbit, El Gato and the Caterpillar agree to break through the Looking-Glass to save Chloe ("Through the Looking Glass").
Act 2
Inside the Hatter's war room, she locks Chloe in the tallest dungeon. She also captures the Caterpillar, El Gato and the White Knight as they fight to free Alice (and the Rabbit). The Hatter declares she will win her battle ("I Will Prevail"). The Rabbit and Alice find themselves where the Rabbit tells Alice he can turn back the hands of time. Alice, at a door that is a riddle as well, tells the Rabbit to get captured and use the watch to save everyone. Alice walks through the "THEATRICAL" (which spells HATTR and ALICE) entrance and encounters Lewis Carroll
(the Victorian Gentleman). He encourages her to be anything she wants, something she dreamt of ("I Am My Own Invention").
The Hatter delivers the list of executions to the Queen of Hearts, 7 beheadings, with the names of 6 of the characters and a "wildcard" slot. The Hatter eggs her on that she is the only one who can say "Off with their heads" with such flair. The Queen delights in the truth of her signature phrase ("Off With Their Heads"). Lewis Carroll leads Alice to a hall of mirrors, where she believes she has found Chloe. However, she realizes she is talking to herself. She finally learns why she was brought to Wonderland: to remember and love who she is and was ("Once More I Can See").
Back at the prison, the Rabbit is captured. When Morris the March Hare asks for any valuables he wants them to keep safe, he hands over the watch. When Jack asks why he was captured, he explains about the watch to save them, but the prisoners are dismayed at this. Jack tells the Rabbit to find dismiss his fears. They defeat the prison guards, who are Jack's Boy-Band Knights and return them to their normal mindset when they get the watch back. They free the rest of the guards from the Hatter's command, leaving her defenseless. The boy-band, Jack, Caterpillar, Rabbit and El Gato save Alice from the dungeon and learn that together, anything is possible ("Together"). Morris delivers the beheading list to Jack, where they learn of the Hatter's plans to overthrow everyone, including the Queen. When the Hatter arrives to taunt Alice with a final riddle, the Queen arrives for the beheadings. Alice learns that the Hatter is the alter-ego of herself. The Queen, learning of the beheadings, banishes the Hatter to the underground world. Alice, who tries to defend the Hatter, is held at knife-point until Jack saves her. However, he is brought down to the underworld as well. Alice is happy that she may leave with Chloe, but the two lament Jack's death as they go home ("Heroes")
Alice awakens from her dream when her husband, Jack, arrives with Chloe's forgotten doll and claiming it is his White Knight syndrome that drove him there and his desire to protect his family since they're under a new roof. Alice embraces him and realizes what she has in front of her eyes, the family is together once again. As they all head down for dinner, she remains behind for a moment to write down what she has learned from the rabbit, that time is fleeting, and from her dream: "ordinary magic happens every single day", and it is all around us in the simplest ways ("Finding Wonderland").
Act I
Act II
John Fleming of the St. Petersburg Times
expressed mixed feelings about the production. He called it "a visual feast, with dazzling costumes, marvelously funky dance and a flashy, high-tech production design," thought it "is loaded with talent onstage," and said the score "boasts one insanely catchy pop song after another." He continued, "But Wonderland also has a problem: It makes almost no sense. The book needs a major rewrite, and not just a tweak here and there. What Wildhorn and his colleagues...or somebody else can do to bring at least a measure of dramatic logic to the musical will ultimately decide its fate." He felt a scene in which Alice meets author Lewis Carroll "appears to be an attempt to give the show emotional depth", but "it is totally out of place, like dropping a scene from one of Wildhorn's Gothic pop operas into Legally Blonde
," and the character of the Mad Hatter was a "casualty of the misconceived book" because "the story is so preposterous." He noted "El Gato and the jazzy Caterpillar ... have great solos to introduce Alice to Wonderland, but then have little to do the rest of the show."
Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune called it "a fun ride" but observed, "At this stage in the play's ongoing development, the parts seem greater than the whole as there are characters and songs along the way that excite and delight but there may be one or two more ballads than necessary." He thought Janet Dacal, as Alice, "so appealing in the role that we'd follow her anywhere. With a strong voice, great dance moves and flair for comedy, Dacal is a perfect fit for the role." Variety
wrote that the musical "offers pleasures from an engaging cast, top Broadway designers and a catchy score that returns Wildhorn to his pop music roots" but felt "the story is confusing almost from the start, especially in the messier second act, when it drifts around and then rushes to an unemotional conclusion....[T]here's not yet a delightful or tear-filled resolution".
The review of the Houston run in The Houston Chronicle stated: "The show boasts the appeal of Boyd's splashy staging, a talented cast led by vivacious star-in-the-making Janet Dacal and some striking design elements, including spectacular use of projections...Wildhorn delivers his trademark, conventional pop sound, boosted by some lively rhythms and catchy hooks here and there....Dacal is a find as Alice. Her singing is strong and sure, she moves well and projects spunky presence. ... The show's visuals are its strong suit. Neil Patel's sets are ingenious if somewhat slapdash in stylistic consistency....As a work in progress, Wonderland no doubt will continue improving. Even as it stands, for all the shortcomings, it's likely to please many who'll be happy enough with its bursts of flash, volume and grab-bag of references to those beloved Alice books."
Broadway
The show received negative reviews. However, The New York Times
reviewer Charles Isherwood
wrote that the musical is "peppily inspirational" and the "book displays flashes of fresh humor ... with a convoluted story line." The Wildhorn songs are a "competent rendering of various pop styles".
The show was one of the few new musicals to fail to receive a nomination for any major theatre awards.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd, lyrics by Murphy, and music by Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...
. The story, a contemporary version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
and Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, is set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and focuses on writer Alice Cornwinkle, a descendant of Alice Liddell
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
, and her 10-year-old daughter Chloe.
After various workshops and productions of the musical in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
and Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, the show premiered on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
on April 17, 2011, closing a month later, on May 15, 2011.
Preliminary workshops and readings
Frank WildhornFrank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...
and Jack Murphy previously collaborated on The Civil War
The Civil War (musical)
The Civil War is a musical written by Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and music by Wildhorn. The musical centers on the American Civil War, with the musical numbers portraying the war through Union, Confederate, and slave viewpoints. The musical was nominated for a Tony...
, Waiting For The Moon
Waiting For The Moon (musical)
Waiting for the Moon: An American Love Story, formerly Zelda or Scott & Zelda: The Other Side Of Paradise, is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Jack Murphy. It is the second finished production the two have presented, having previously collaborated on The Civil War...
, The Count of Monte Cristo, and the unproduced musical Havana, and have written songs for Linda Eder
Linda Eder
Linda Eder is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical...
. Gregory Boyd has directed productions of Wildhorn's Svengali
Svengali (musical)
Svengali is a musical with a book and lyrics by Gregory Boyd and music by Frank Wildhorn. It is based on the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier....
(for which he penned the lyrics), Jekyll & Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
, and The Civil War (for which he contributed lyrics and dialogue with Murphy).
Wonderland is the first production mounted by the Broadway Genesis Project, whose goal is to help create new theatre works specifically for the Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
market, after which they may be staged in other performing arts centers or move to Broadway.
Wildhorn began working on the project in the late 1990s. He initially conceived an Alice similar to the one in the 1951 Disney animated feature
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
and envisioned his then-fiancé, Brandi Burkhardt
Brandi Burkhardt
Brandi Lynn Burkhardt is an American vocalist, actress and beauty queen. She grew up in Pasadena, Maryland but currently lives in Los Angeles.-Education:...
, in the title role, but as time passed, the two ended their engagement, and the role seemed to be passed to another Wildhorn leading lady Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy is an actress and a singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She most recently starred in the Off-Broadway show Good Ol' Girls at the Black Box Theatre during the 2009-2010 season...
. In 2005, Wildhorn announced that the musical would premiere in 2006 in Europe, but this did not occur. The show was workshopped starring Burkhardt in the title role in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
in 2007, with a presentation of four songs (these still appear in the show in some form). The project then focused on the scripts, and TBPAC agreed to make the show its first project.
In the summer of 2007, at a "Wildhorn & Friends" concert in Graz, Austria, Burkhardt premiered the song "Once More I Can See", with orchestra, and Wildhorn announced that the show would premiere in Tampa in 2009. The project had its first reading in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on March 20, 2009. It featured Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy
Lauren Kennedy is an actress and a singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She most recently starred in the Off-Broadway show Good Ol' Girls at the Black Box Theatre during the 2009-2010 season...
as Alice, Julie Brooks as Chloe, Nikki Snelson
Nikki Snelson
Nikki Snelson is an American actress, who works mainly in stage musicals.-Biography:Snelson is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and received her training at the Boston Conservatory. Snelson's first major role on Broadway came as "Winnie Tate" in the 1999 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun...
as the Mad Hatter, and Julia Murney
Julia Murney
Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress, singer and theatre performer, primarily featured in theatre and television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway...
as the Queen.
Tampa and Houston (2009–2010)
Gregory Boyd was chosen to direct the production, Marguerite DerricksMarguerite Derricks
Marguerite Pomerhn-Derricks, professionally known as Marguerite Derricks, is a multi award-winning choreographer, ballerina and actress born in Buffalo, New York in 1961....
was chosen to choreograph, and costume designs were by Susan Hilferty
Susan Hilferty
Susan Hilferty is an American costume designer for theatre, opera, and film. She received the 2001 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Costume Design....
. In April 2009, auditions were held in Manhattan and at what was then the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Casting was complete by August. The cast included Janet Dacal
Janet Dacal
Janet Dacal is a Cuban-American actress, singer, and performer in musical theatre. She received the Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Broadway musical In the Heights.- Early life :...
as Alice, Karen Mason
Karen Mason
Karen Mason is an American theatre actress and singer.She was one of the featured cabaret vocalists at The Duplex Cabaret in the early 1980s. She has appeared at the Bay Area Cabaret, Empire Ballroom, San Francisco....
as the Queen of Hearts, Nikki Snelson as the Mad Hatter, Eugene Fleming as the Caterpillar, Jose Llana as El Gato, Ed Staudenmayer as the White Rabbit, Darren Ritchie
Darren Ritchie (actor)
- Career :He is perhaps best known for originating the role of Jonathan Harker in Frank Wildhorn's Broadway production of Dracula, the musical in 2004. He has also appeared in featured roles in the Broadway revivals of The Little Shop of Horrors, 2003, and Bells are Ringing, 2001,...
as Jack/White Knight, and Julie Brooks as Chloe. The creative team included scenic designer Neil Patel
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is a prolific award winning American scenic designer. He has designed productions for theater, opera and dance...
, lighting designer Paul Gallo
Paul Gallo
For the radio host of the same name, see Paul Gallo .Paul Gallo is an award-winning American theatrical lighting designer....
, and projection designer Sven Ortel. Rehearsals began on October 12, 2009.
Wonderland began previews on November 24, 2009 and opened on December 5 at Ferguson Hall in The David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, where it ran through January 3, 2010. The musical next moved to the Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
, Houston, starting in previews on January 15, 2010 and opening on January 20, running through February 14. The musical was budgeted at USD$3.3 million. According to a report by Straz Center, "the estimated local economic impact...is more than $8.1 million", and noted that "nearly 750 full and part-time jobs [were] impacted". The show played to 96% capacity in Tampa.
The production transferred to Houston, opening January 20, 2010 at the Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
, with previews beginning January 15. It closed on February 14, 2010. The book was rewritten after the Tampa engagement. At the time of the Houston opening, Boyd said: "The book we have now is quite different from the book that opened in Tampa. And we're putting in more changes, including four new songs." Producer Judy Lisi discussed the decisions being made about the show's next step: "Does it make sense to tour it first? Does it make sense to bring it in (to Broadway)? I really want to see how far we get in Houston to be able to determine the next stage of the development."
Tampa (2011)
The musical returned in a pre-Broadway engagement to Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center in Tampa, with performances running from January 5 through January 16, 2011.The show had a new subtitle: Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical and the book was drastically re-written, the roles of the Caterpillar, Chloe and the Mad Hatter were recast (with E. Clayton Cornelius, Carly Rose Soneclar and Kate Shindle), a character (Morris, the Hatter's side-kick, the March Hare) was added, and a character was deleted (Jabberwock). The revised score featured many of the new songs from the 2010 Houston production, as well as re-implementing the song "Don't Wanna Fall in Love", and adding two others.
Broadway (2011)
The musical premiered on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...
on April 17, 2011, with previews beginning March 21. The cast included Janet Dacal
Janet Dacal
Janet Dacal is a Cuban-American actress, singer, and performer in musical theatre. She received the Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Broadway musical In the Heights.- Early life :...
as Alice, Darren Ritchie
Darren Ritchie (actor)
- Career :He is perhaps best known for originating the role of Jonathan Harker in Frank Wildhorn's Broadway production of Dracula, the musical in 2004. He has also appeared in featured roles in the Broadway revivals of The Little Shop of Horrors, 2003, and Bells are Ringing, 2001,...
as White Knight and Jack/Lewis Carroll, Jose Llana
Jose Llana
Jose Llana is a Filipino-American singer and actor known for his high tenor voice.-Biography:Born May 5, 1976, Llana, a native of Manila, Philippines, grew up in Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C...
as El Gato, Karen Mason
Karen Mason
Karen Mason is an American theatre actress and singer.She was one of the featured cabaret vocalists at The Duplex Cabaret in the early 1980s. She has appeared at the Bay Area Cabaret, Empire Ballroom, San Francisco....
as the Queen of Hearts, Kate Shindle
Katherine Shindle
Kate Shindle is an American actress, singer, dancer, and AIDS activist. She came to fame as Miss America 1998, where she represented the state of Illinois as Miss Illinois 1997...
as the Mad Hatter, Carly Rose Sonenclar as Chloe, and Edward Staudenmayer as the White Rabbit. Tituss Burgess
Tituss Burgess
Tituss Burgess is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in four Broadway musicals, and is known for his very high tenor voice.-Biography:...
was originally cast as the Caterpillar but was later replaced by E. Clayton Cornelious. Boyd directs, Derricks choreographs, and the design team is the same, except for the addition of sound designer Peter Hylenski.
On February 6, it was reported that the musical was short of USD$10 million on a $14 million captilization. The producers, however, announced that "The show is on schedule and we are very thrilled about the work that was done in Florida." The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported that several producers wanted to bring in additional help. The Nederlanders engaged Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
to restage the musical and Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes is an American-British composer, singer-songwriter, musician and author of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape " and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980...
to help shape the book. The production closed on May 15, 2011, after 31 previews and 33 performances. On closing night, Ritchie proposed to Dacal on stage, and she accepted.
Masterworks Broadway released an original cast recording of the show on May 3, 2011.
Plot
The story, in the Broadway production, was as follows:Act 1
Author Alice Cornwinkle and her daughter have just moved to the Queens, New York so that Alice can have some space from her husband. Her young daughter, Chloe, laments about the move and her family's demise, as Alice notes that her life isn't going in the direction she had hoped ("Worst Day Of My Life"). Edwina, Jack's mother, is cooking dinner for Chloe. Alice, who has just hit her head on the light of the building's service elevator, receives her children's book manuscript back from the publishers, who have coldly rejected it. As she lays down, she is awoken by a white rabbit
White Rabbit
The White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a secret member of the Underland Underground Resistance, and was sent by the Hatter to search for Alice...
who she follows down to Wonderland
Wonderland (fictional country)
Wonderland is the setting for Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.-Geography:In the story, Wonderland is located underground, and Alice reaches it by travelling down a rabbit hole, possibly on the banks of the Thames between Folly Bridge and Godstow...
("Down the Rabbit Hole").
In Wonderland, she encounters strange people and creatures who are dressed with outlandish flair ("Welcome to Wonderland"). She tries to discover why she has been brought there, and finds a mysterious drink ("Drink Me"). She then encounters the Caterpillar
Caterpillar (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
The Caterpillar is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.-Appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:...
, whose advice is to follow in the footsteps of El Gato (the Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
) to find out who she is ("Advice from a Caterpillar" and "Go With the Flow"). El Gato believes himself to be invisible, but he has lost the power; the characters in Wonderland "don't have the heart to tell him". El Gato leads her to the White Rabbit, who introduces her to Jack, the White Knight. He promises to save her at all means ("One Knight") and invites her to the Tea Party ("The Mad Tea Party").
At the party, the Mad Hatter
Mad Hatter
Hatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
announces with flair that she intends to rule things in Wonderland ("The Mad Hatter"). She reads Alice's tea leaves, commenting on Alice's bad qualities as the Queen
Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
The Queen of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by the writer and mathematician Lewis Carroll. She is a foul-tempered monarch, that Carroll himself pictured as "a blind fury", and who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense...
arrives. The Queen announces that she is the ruler and all must obey her, or it will be off with your head ("All Hail the Queen"). Alice promises the Queen a brand new kingdom – one that is full of queens in order to have her sentence pardoned. The Hatter, angry, goes with Morris the March Hare
March Hare
Haigha, the March Hare is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.The main character, Alice, hypothesises,...
to find her revenge on Alice who is a threat to the Hatter's plans. The Rabbit, El Gato, Caterpillar and Jack the White Knight all agree to help Alice find the service elevator that brought her there. Alice just wants to go home, as she and Chloe, in their new apartment, yearn for the way things used to be ("Home").
The Mad Hatter, who uses the name "Maddie", and the March Hare ascend up the rabbit hole to Chloe's bedroom. They convince Chloe to come with them to help with Alice and Jack's marriage treatment to bring the family closer together ("A Nice Little Walk"). Chloe goes with them to Wonderland. However, the Hatter takes Chloe to the Land of the Looking-Glass, the Hatter's side of the kingdom where she captures and changes her prisoners. Jack agrees to help Alice in exchange for a kiss, as the White Rabbit makes mention of this news. Together, Alice, Jack, Rabbit, El Gato and the Caterpillar agree to break through the Looking-Glass to save Chloe ("Through the Looking Glass").
Act 2
Inside the Hatter's war room, she locks Chloe in the tallest dungeon. She also captures the Caterpillar, El Gato and the White Knight as they fight to free Alice (and the Rabbit). The Hatter declares she will win her battle ("I Will Prevail"). The Rabbit and Alice find themselves where the Rabbit tells Alice he can turn back the hands of time. Alice, at a door that is a riddle as well, tells the Rabbit to get captured and use the watch to save everyone. Alice walks through the "THEATRICAL" (which spells HATTR and ALICE) entrance and encounters Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
(the Victorian Gentleman). He encourages her to be anything she wants, something she dreamt of ("I Am My Own Invention").
The Hatter delivers the list of executions to the Queen of Hearts, 7 beheadings, with the names of 6 of the characters and a "wildcard" slot. The Hatter eggs her on that she is the only one who can say "Off with their heads" with such flair. The Queen delights in the truth of her signature phrase ("Off With Their Heads"). Lewis Carroll leads Alice to a hall of mirrors, where she believes she has found Chloe. However, she realizes she is talking to herself. She finally learns why she was brought to Wonderland: to remember and love who she is and was ("Once More I Can See").
Back at the prison, the Rabbit is captured. When Morris the March Hare asks for any valuables he wants them to keep safe, he hands over the watch. When Jack asks why he was captured, he explains about the watch to save them, but the prisoners are dismayed at this. Jack tells the Rabbit to find dismiss his fears. They defeat the prison guards, who are Jack's Boy-Band Knights and return them to their normal mindset when they get the watch back. They free the rest of the guards from the Hatter's command, leaving her defenseless. The boy-band, Jack, Caterpillar, Rabbit and El Gato save Alice from the dungeon and learn that together, anything is possible ("Together"). Morris delivers the beheading list to Jack, where they learn of the Hatter's plans to overthrow everyone, including the Queen. When the Hatter arrives to taunt Alice with a final riddle, the Queen arrives for the beheadings. Alice learns that the Hatter is the alter-ego of herself. The Queen, learning of the beheadings, banishes the Hatter to the underground world. Alice, who tries to defend the Hatter, is held at knife-point until Jack saves her. However, he is brought down to the underworld as well. Alice is happy that she may leave with Chloe, but the two lament Jack's death as they go home ("Heroes")
Alice awakens from her dream when her husband, Jack, arrives with Chloe's forgotten doll and claiming it is his White Knight syndrome that drove him there and his desire to protect his family since they're under a new roof. Alice embraces him and realizes what she has in front of her eyes, the family is together once again. As they all head down for dinner, she remains behind for a moment to write down what she has learned from the rabbit, that time is fleeting, and from her dream: "ordinary magic happens every single day", and it is all around us in the simplest ways ("Finding Wonderland").
Musical numbers
The musical numbers from the Broadway production are as follows:Act I
- Overture - Orchestra
- The Worst Day Of My Life – Chloe and Alice
- Down the Rabbit Hole – Alice and Unearthly Voices
- Welcome to Wonderland – Alice, Company
- Drink Me – Unearthly Voices
- Advice From a Caterpillar – Caterpillar, Alice and Legs
- Go With the Flow – El Gato, Alice, Cats and Kittens
- One Knight – Jack the White Knight and Fellow Knights
- Mad Tea Party – Company
- The Mad Hatter – The Mad Hatter and Company
- Hail the Queen – The Queen of Hearts and Company
- Home – Alice and Chloe
- A Nice Little Walk – The Mad Hatter, Chloe and Morris
- Through the Looking Glass – Alice, Jack, Caterpillar, El Gato and The White Rabbit
Act II
- I Will Prevail – The Mad Hatter, Looking Glass Guard
- I Am My Own Invention – The Victorian Gentleman and Alice
- Off with Their Heads – The Queen of Hearts and Ladies-in-Waiting
- Once More I Can See – Alice
- Together – Jack, Caterpillar, El Gato, White Rabbit, Alice and Chloe
- Home (reprise) - Alice, Chloe, El Gato, Caterpillar, and White Rabbit
- Finding Wonderland – Alice and Company
Critical reception
Tampa and Houston reviewsJohn Fleming of the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
expressed mixed feelings about the production. He called it "a visual feast, with dazzling costumes, marvelously funky dance and a flashy, high-tech production design," thought it "is loaded with talent onstage," and said the score "boasts one insanely catchy pop song after another." He continued, "But Wonderland also has a problem: It makes almost no sense. The book needs a major rewrite, and not just a tweak here and there. What Wildhorn and his colleagues...or somebody else can do to bring at least a measure of dramatic logic to the musical will ultimately decide its fate." He felt a scene in which Alice meets author Lewis Carroll "appears to be an attempt to give the show emotional depth", but "it is totally out of place, like dropping a scene from one of Wildhorn's Gothic pop operas into Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde (musical)
Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...
," and the character of the Mad Hatter was a "casualty of the misconceived book" because "the story is so preposterous." He noted "El Gato and the jazzy Caterpillar ... have great solos to introduce Alice to Wonderland, but then have little to do the rest of the show."
Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune called it "a fun ride" but observed, "At this stage in the play's ongoing development, the parts seem greater than the whole as there are characters and songs along the way that excite and delight but there may be one or two more ballads than necessary." He thought Janet Dacal, as Alice, "so appealing in the role that we'd follow her anywhere. With a strong voice, great dance moves and flair for comedy, Dacal is a perfect fit for the role." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote that the musical "offers pleasures from an engaging cast, top Broadway designers and a catchy score that returns Wildhorn to his pop music roots" but felt "the story is confusing almost from the start, especially in the messier second act, when it drifts around and then rushes to an unemotional conclusion....[T]here's not yet a delightful or tear-filled resolution".
The review of the Houston run in The Houston Chronicle stated: "The show boasts the appeal of Boyd's splashy staging, a talented cast led by vivacious star-in-the-making Janet Dacal and some striking design elements, including spectacular use of projections...Wildhorn delivers his trademark, conventional pop sound, boosted by some lively rhythms and catchy hooks here and there....Dacal is a find as Alice. Her singing is strong and sure, she moves well and projects spunky presence. ... The show's visuals are its strong suit. Neil Patel's sets are ingenious if somewhat slapdash in stylistic consistency....As a work in progress, Wonderland no doubt will continue improving. Even as it stands, for all the shortcomings, it's likely to please many who'll be happy enough with its bursts of flash, volume and grab-bag of references to those beloved Alice books."
Broadway
The show received negative reviews. However, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reviewer Charles Isherwood
Charles Isherwood
-External Links:* at The New York Times* at Variety...
wrote that the musical is "peppily inspirational" and the "book displays flashes of fresh humor ... with a convoluted story line." The Wildhorn songs are a "competent rendering of various pop styles".
The show was one of the few new musicals to fail to receive a nomination for any major theatre awards.
Recordings
- Linda EderLinda EderLinda Eder is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical...
recorded the first song released from the show, titled "Anything Can Happen," for her CD It's No Secret Anymore. It no longer is included in the production.
- In November 2009 an original cast album featuring the cast of the Tampa production was released. John Fleming of the St. Petersburg Times, called it "a terrific pop album, overflowing with insanely catchy hooks, toe-tapping rock and swelling choruses that you couldn’t get out of your head if you wanted to. Of the 15 songs from the show, at least half of them sound like hit singles, and they don’t need any theatrical context." He added, "Of course, pop music can be manipulative, shamelessly derivative and loaded with cheap effects, like splashy key changes at every turn. Wildhorn is gleefully guilty on all counts here...Wonderland is full of songs that are perfect for listening to on an iPodIPodiPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
or a car CD player."
- European Theatre star Thomas BorchertThomas BorchertThomas Borchert is a German actor, singer, and songwriter. He has performed especially in musical theatre.- Biography :...
released the song "Together" on his 2010 CD If I Sing.
- Linda Eder recorded the song "The Mad Hatter Attacks" for her 2010 album Now, her first collaboration with Frank Wildhorn and Jeremy Roberts in years.
- An Original Broadway Cast Recording by the Masterworks Broadway label was released on May 3, 2011.