By Joe Straw
“…when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. “ –
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland
First of all, right off the blinded bat, there is
exceptional talent in The Story of Alice,
Book & Lyrics by Michael Cormier, with the music by Scott Hiltzik, through
May 29th, 2016 at The Matrix Theatre.
Emily King Brown, Nikki D’Amico, Nic Hodges, Emily Barnett, and
Justin W. Yu are four of the reasons why you should run to see this production!
Not four you say! Five? Well in that case, if you must count, choose any one or all of the
five to nourish your hearty theatrical flavorings.
Mylette Nora,
Costume Designer, brought a marvelous life to this production, giving each
character, beyond the rabbit hole, a very specific look. I have more to say on
the look of Alice, later.
Oh my! Caveat! Don’t read any further! I must say some things. I know, sometimes one
can be very naughty, the naughty things one says. But things must be said, for the record, in
judgment of said musical. Hold your boos, hiss, or applause until the very end.
And, take a moment to unwrap your candies.
And while you are immersed in you’re reading, on whatever
magical reading devices you may have, avoid stepping on the rolling hedgehogs.
They make an awful racket!
Something was indeed missing
in this version of The Story of Alice;
perhaps it was the mise, mise, mise en scéne, and the peculiarity and slightly
disturbing interactions among the highly identifiable characters from Lewis
Carrolls’ Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland,
or Through the Looking Glass.
But hold your reference to those two books! The Story of Alice, a musical with a
book, or a book with music must stand on its tiny little feet. To understand
completely, drink the correct potion and don’t shed a salty tear.
Still, something was missing, missing, missing - something
one couldn’t quite place one’s finger on. And perhaps I’m making too much of muchness.
So what in the blue blazes was wrong? Well, not wrong,
wrong. Slightly wrong. Minutely wrong.
Okay, they were like slight disagreeable moments arranged on a salty platter
that needed additional seasoning.
From the beginning, that’s where we must start. The Cheshire
Cat (Santino Tomasetti) pretended to play a lute and he didn’t have a really
really, really big smile. Charming one
would say, smirking others would say, but definitely not a big smile. Could
that have made a difference?
Maybe. The Cheshire Cat sets us off on a course, not
strangely enough, but the book by Michael
Cormier does not make it specifically mystical enough, nonsensical enough, doesn’t
paint enough of a absurd picture, does not guide us to our next adventure which
is of the two sisters. The light of his smile as he disappears does not create
a mysterious relationship or set a mood. So, for the sake of clarity, place the
said Cheshire Cat in the middle of the two girls as he mysteriously disappears
into the said forest, or fog, or whatever as the sisters continue on with their
lives.
A stunning older sister Simone (Emily Barnett) smokes a vape
pipe (the Blue Caterpillar). She is older
and wiser, and makes fun of her petulant sister, Alice (Jessamyn
Arnstein). No she won’t give her a drag
on the pipe or hang out with her, just as all horrid big sisters won’t do, but
she is curious about Alice’s mental state.
Interesting now that Alice sings the song, If I Had Wings (The Caterpillar turning
into a beautiful butterfly?), a song of wanting to be somewhere else in a
happier place. This song really needs to
connect to the relationship with her sister before the White Rabbit (Justin W.
Yu) enters the picture.
The dream takes her down the rabbit hole, the last bit of conscious
reality before her sleeping mind takes her into a deep, deep, a very deep sleep.
So, so, what am I to make of this show? For the most part, it is a very enjoyable
night of entertainment, with wonderful costumes, a live four-piece orchestra. Dwight
Rivera: Keys 2, Sam Morgan: Woodwinds/E-Wi, Dave Johnstone: Drums/Percussion highlight the beautiful voices on
stage.
Well, let’s highlight.
Emily Barnett, as
Simone, does triple duties playing a number of characters, each in their own
way, very charming. Barnett is a gorgeous creature and has very appealing look on
stage, giving each character their very own brand of uniqueness. There is a lot to enjoy in this actor’s
performance.
Brooke Brewer is
fantastic as Weasel. It is a perfect
role for her athletic frame, very weasel like as she moves about the stage.
Loved the nose and the costume.
Nikki D’Amico was
enjoyable from start to finish. The Dodo
character was impeccable fluttering from here to there, with a wave and a wing
under her arm. She also has a very charming
voice. Tweedle Dum was also very funny. It
was a joy watching her performance and one relishes her complete characterization
of those roles, her remarkable skills, and her wonderful craft.
Nic Hodges was smarmy
as the King, deliciously detestable, and marvelously naughty. He was also great as Tweedle Dee. King is naughty, fooling around with the
Duchess and cheating on the Queen. Hodges has an incredible voice and he gives
it his all in some very funny moments on stage.
Emily King Brown
was fantastic as the Queen with the hair that gave her the appearance that she
was 14 feet tall! Brown has an astonishing
voice and great comic timing. The
looking glass moments worked perfectly.
Can’t say enough about this actress! She is very, very scrumptious.
Justin W. Yu was
the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit takes
some time (pun intended) getting used to running around in circles, claiming
he’s late, and avoiding the Queen at all costs for reasons that are not
entirely clear. (Could it be the Queen
loves rabbit stew?) This character, although perfectly enjoyable, needs
defining, specifically to smooth about the rough edges, about who he is, where
he is going, and how all of it ties in to the progression of the play.
Jolie Adamson is
the Mock Turtle who really has to sell the heck out of turtle loving a knave
and the reasons that may happen. She is a turtle in love and no one notices anything
about or comments how unnatural that may be. Someone has to figure out how this
is all going to work. Adamson also plays the Duchess holding the pig and asking
for more pepper. (One would have liked to have seen this scene with no less
than a thousands sneezes.) Still,
Adamson gave the Duchess a very clear character and some very nice touches.
Jessamyn Arnstein,
who has a strong resemblance to Tina Fey, plays Alice. Arnstein has a lovely voice but it is a
character that is not completely developed.
“If I had Wings” is a song that takes her to another land in the way
that “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” takes Dorothy to another place. But after the
song, we don’t see how she is transported, only that she has. And as Alice goes down the hole, first and foremost,
she should be filled with extreme curiosity.
And that curiosity should play into her fear, gratefulness, and then
stubbornness, until she finds the moment, that precise moment of wanting to get
home. The overall objective is to get
back home but there is much for Alice to learn before she gets back. Also,
while everyone was in a delightful costume, Alice looked like she stepped right
off of Melrose. A better costume would give her more character and more time to
prink as she defines whom and what she is was, and what she will be. It will
also give her the appearance of a girl and someone we can have great sympathy
for when she finds herself in a lot of trouble.
Bradley Cashman
plays the Knave and the Mad Hatter. The
Knave must have love oozing out of his ears and the Mad Hatter must be
completely mad! Still, Cashman has some
very fine moments in this musical.
Liam Roberts was
fine as the Commander and has a large presence on stage. One is not really sure how the other soldiers
to his side works to create an effective character.
Santino Tomasetti
played the Cheshire Cat and needs more to give the cat clarification, who he
is, why he is there, what does he want, and how this all fits into the musical.
Mysterious should be the term that best identifies the character. That aside,
Tomasetti has a wonderful look on stage.
Gary Lee Reed,
the director, did a fine job. The show
needs a grandeur beginning in the way the book jolts the reader. The Cheshire
Cat comes off as a common house cat. The
opening should be absurd, nonsensical, and filled with the as much complexity as a
disappearing smiling Cheshire Cat brings. Also, the show would do fine with the
elimination of three songs in the first act. The second act ran a little
smoother. One doesn’t know why but I
particularly liked the song “Bananas & Cabbage”. The show really fits the bill for folks less
than 15 years, and under it’s present condition, they should find middle
schoolers to see the show. Naytheless,
the show has incredible potential but must be fine-tuned to fit both children
as well as adults. The Duchess’ death puts
a damper on this show; we must find a way to make it work with the Mock Turtle
on stage. The improvisation beyond the fourth wall
probably plays well to middle schoolers, and the improvisational reference to
the Mary Tyler Moore Show doesn’t work at all, and doesn’t progress the play. Little things will only add grand moments to
the musical.
Michael Cormier,
Book and Lyrics, has a very good feel.
The story lines that work the best are the Duchess and the King, the
Queen’s desire to be the best at what she does, and strangely enough, the
sisters Alice and Simone and their relationship with each other and their
mother (not seen) and the mother’s boyfriends.
A lot of time and effort went into this production. Other members of the delightful crew are as
follows:
Nicholas Petrillo
- Music Director, Arranger
Racquel Lehrman,
Theatre Planners – Producer
Victoria Watson,
theatre Planners – Associate Producer
Marjo Majdi –
Executive Producer
Cassie Crump –
Choreographer who designed some very pleasant numbers for the show. Those numbers will put a smile on your face.
Matt Richter –
Lighting Designer
Kiff Scholl, ARK
Design – Graphic Designer
Katherine S. Hunt
– Props Designer
Raul Clayton Staggs
– Casting Director
Marissa Drammissi
– Production Stage Manager
Run! Run! And take
someone who loves Alice. In fact, dress up and go!
A guest production at The Matrix Theatre
7657 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
No comments:
Post a Comment