Review: Alice & Wonderland
Oregon Children’s Theatre version of the Carroll classic begs for less speed, more ’shroom—and more breathing room.
Posted by: Anne Adams on Nov 01, 2010 at 06:00AM
6 Comments
“Is it over yet?” piped a child’s voice as Alice finished exuberantly belting that she was “Bored! Bored! Bored!” But it was far from over; in fact, Alice had yet to even fall down the rabbit hole. Fast, loud, and colorful, this musical played on like a human firework show, while I suppressed a strong urge to sneak the kid out for ice cream, and reappear in an hour.
Imagine the sparse, scaffold-style staging of RENT, combined with costumes the Mickey Mouse Club might wear to Burning Man, and a live band playing a relentless onslaught of fast-paced prog-rock with a few new-country twangs. Imagine there’s no speaking, only singing, and no pausing, only rocking. Older kids are mildly amused, but some little kids are pretty confused, and many of the lovable aspects of musical theater get lost in the frenetic mix. That said, there’s nary a bad performer in the bunch; in fact, there are several standouts:
The White Rabbit (Dave Cole, last heard doing justice to Van Morrison numbers in local rock ballet Find Me Beside You ) has a beautiful husky croon, and is an able live guitarist. He hits the script’s few moods with the perfect timing and tone.
The Tweedles Dee and Dum are charming and memorable, in part because they’re lucky: their scene uses the only representational “set” (a beach-scape for their Walrus & Carpenter recitation), and their song, a Caribbean number, forces a slower pace than some of the others. Dee (Eric Little) hits the production’s penultimate high note, and Dum (Tyler Andrew Jones) has a pretty face and a riveting presence. (Having seen Jones in drag before–as Angel in RENT–I think I’d probably even enjoy him as Alice.)
The Queen’s regal bearing carries her nicely through her brief scene, the Cheshire Cat has an awesome grin, and the Caterpillar choreography—a train-style ensemble number with synchronized arm movement—is awfully cute. Humpty Dumpty and the Mock Turtle make a particularly valiant effort to emote and enunciate, and vie for the title of Mr. Personality.
Sarah Catherine Wheatley’s Alice, while not my taste, echoes strongly of Miley Cyrus’ Hannah Montana, the wildly successful kiddie rock star. So, like it or not, she’s probably doing something right.
Then what’s wrong?
1. Well, on Saturday afternoon, there seemed to be a problem with the sound. Some vox were shorting out, or at least suddenly dropping in volume. I imagine among the hundred switches and sliders, something should be reset: maybe the compression? Maybe merely the relative levels? Or maybe everyone’s headpiece needs to be taped tighter, so it can’t jiggle around? I don’t know. Try everything. These glitches were noticeable.
2. Songs flat-out went too fast. Drummer Dave Muldoon is either a hero for keeping the pace, or a culprit for setting it, on this hurtling speedwagon of a musical. Either way, all the musicians could stand to slow their roll, giving actors more room to ham it up. My guess is, more lyrics would get heard, and the characters would come through stronger. (Think Rocky Horror. Antici…pation.)
3. The most captivating moments were not the wacky ensemble numbers, but whenever a single element was introduced—from the inert paper-lantern moon, to each new character. But these focal points and narrative milestones were too quickly swept along in a hubbub of busy blocking and backup-dancing.
4. Even if star performers were allowed more leeway, there’d still be a lot missing from this version of the story. Alice never changes sizes, never has arguments, never fully delights or despairs. At best, this is an Alice-themed rock concert, and not a play. (More’s the pity that the songwriting isn’t stronger.) I, for one, wished for more of a story arc, and I’m sure a lot of kids will feel the same. To them, I recommend The Little Prince over at Shaking The Tree. But for kids who revel in fast-paced, loud, lighthearted sensory overload, this one may be just the ticket.
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. “No room! No room!” they cried out when they saw Alice coming. "There’s plenty of room," said Alice indignantly, and she sat down….
~Lewis Carroll
Tags: Literature Theater music children
I saw the show with my children (age 4 and 8) who loved it. Especially the enery of the actors and fun costumes. I had talked with them about what an opera is – so perhaps knowing that an opera means there won’t be dialogue is most helpful. Our family appreciated an original show for children rather than the same old same old.
We do NOT agree with this review. This is an incredible show!
We recommend it to anyone that ENJOYS rock music, great fun and wild and memorable experiences. We also know another family that went and raved about it. I suggest that maybe Anne here is just not a fan of rock music …. or maybe wild and fun times? And note to Anne, people probably would not be very understanding if you took their kid out of the theater for ice cream. That is kinda frowned upon these days, fyi.
GO SEE THIS PERFORMANCE IF YOU LIKE ROCK MUSIC AND UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A ROCK OPERA AND IS NOT A “QUIET LITTLE PLAY” WITH “NICE QUIET LITTLE LINES” LIKE THE “NICE SWEET PLAY” THE LITTLE PRINCE.
Read The Oregonian’s review for a much more accurate, in many peoples opinion, description of this play. Thanks!
Wow.
Rockin’ reaction from the Alice faction! My review doesn’t really mean any disrespect. If I hadn’t bothered to critique things like pacing and sound levels, I wouldn’t feel like I’d done my job. I don’t think that my suggestion that the musicians slow it down a little (I was thinking about 10%) indicates an inability to rock on my part, but rather an ability to isolate potential improvements. There’s a long run left on this show; I just want kids to be able to hear more of the words.
Of course many kids enjoyed it! It’s not their job to critique the levels. But I am also not lying when I observe that some kids were overwhelmed and lost, and couldn’t quite keep up.
My advice—and I think this is stated in the review—is to know your kid, and know whether or not they’re going to enjoy a super-fast-paced show. And obviously the “ice cream” comment is an editorial flourish. FYI.
Hey Shayley, there’s absolutely nothing in Anne’s review that implies she doesn’t like “ROCK MUSIC”. Her points, which you failed to understand, were that (by the numbers): 1) the production was a bit technically weak; 2) the musical direction could’ve used some more thought (given, especially, the intended audience (not their mommies); 3) it was more successful when less frenetic; and finally 4) the adaptation left something to be desired.
Portland is a city where far too often the criticism falls along the lines of “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all. And if you don’t know anything about the subject, just be mildly snarky to provide sufficient ironic distance while implying you’re better than the material.” Ms. Adams’ review provided a valid critique and a path to improvement—following a lengthy list of positives. As a reader, I found that rare, refreshing, and, actually, truly positive.
Your response? Seems like you take valid criticism (of a work that if you have a vested interest in, you should’ve been forthright about) far too personally. Didn’t you pay attention to Jon Stewart’s rally last week? TURN DOWN THE ALL CAPS!!!!! And if you really believed for a moment that the reviewer would secret away someone else’s precious to go grab a froyo, then… uh, really? REALLY?
On behalf of Oregon Children’s Theatre, I want to say that we welcome lively conversations about theater. We always encourage parents and teachers to talk about our plays after seeing them. After all, isn’t that a fun part of the experiencing the performing arts? What did you like? What did you not like? How was it different from what you expected? How would you have staged if you were the director or playwright?
It’s not our practice to jump in and defend our work in response to reviews, good or bad. While we have heard from many patrons whose kids loved the show as much as Shayley’s family, we don’t want any readers to think that her comment was generated or encouraged by Oregon Children’s Theatre. If she has a vested interest in the production, it’s not one we know about. (By the way, if we were to comment, it would be to say that we particularly liked Ms. Adams’s description of the costumes as something “Mickey Mouse Club might wear to Burning Man”).
Thanks for the clarification, Ross; it was evidently needed.
I admit I, like Aitch, assumed from the passionate nature of Shayley’s comment that she was associated with the production. This left me especially bemused at her pot-shot to the Little Prince. It’s my understanding that Annabel Cantor, that production’s star, has acted in OCT plays before, and has even played Alice in another local Wonderland-themed production. It was never my intention to pit Alices against one another; one can only imagine the unseemly explosion of hair-bows and playing cards!
What I was hoping to do was—believe it or not—further enliven Alice & Wonderland, wishing for the moments that really stood out, to stick out farther and shine longer.