Stage review: Lake City Playhouse’s ‘Alice by Heart’ shows power of escapism

When seeing a musical that incorporates elements of “Alice in Wonderland,” you expect a lot of whimsy, a lot of fantasy, a lot of “How did they do that?” moments.

Lake City Playhouse’s production of “Alice by Heart” far exceeded those expectations.

The musical begins not in Wonderland, but in a London Underground tube station, where a group of people is taking shelter from the Blitz. It’s a tense situation, but Alice Spencer (Scarlet Hunt) is trying to lighten the mood by visiting her friend Alfred Hallam (Luke Odenthal).

Hallam is sick with tuberculosis, so he is quarantined away from the others, but that doesn’t stop Spencer, to the chagrin of the nurse (Imani Jacob, who also plays the Queen of Hearts). Spencer tells Hallam to travel to Wonderland with her as she reads to him, but the nurse rips her book in frustration.

Spencer isn’t worried though, as she knows the story by heart and begins reciting it. As she does, the characters transform into characters from the classic story and the tube station evolves into Wonderland.

The tale weaves back and forth between Wonderland and the real world, resulting in a blend of fun fantasy and stark reality. I enjoyed spotting choices from the creative team, including director Brooke Wood, assistant director Hannah Howard, set designer Jolena Long, lighting designer Jeremy Whittington, sound designer Oskar Owens, and costume designers Lincoln Wood and Zoey Evans, that really marked the change between worlds.

For example, as a nurse, Long wore a white uniform. As the Queen of Hearts, her dress was layered with a white apron that featured bloody handprints in the shape of hearts. And when Ashley Techavimol transformed from Nigel to the Doormouse, she wore teacups for ears.

There were also moments when birds wore book pages as wings, the flamingos wore headbands adorned with playing cards, and the cots from the tube station were used as a backdrop when Spencer and Hallam fell down the hole to Wonderland.

Because of the neutral clothing many characters wore, they were able to quickly slip between worlds by adding or removing a fantastical element.

Helping with that transition was the use of a screen at the back of the stage, which also broadcast illustrations from the classic story, keeping the audience aware of where in the story the characters were.

The show also moves really beautifully thanks to Wood’s blocking and Crystal Bain’s choreography. The set transforms smoothly from London to Wonderland, and the ensemble is utilized in really interesting ways including, at one point, a set of stairs that Hunt ascended.

“Alice by Heart” is as fun to listen to as it is to watch, with a book by Steven Sater with Jessie Nelson, lyrics by Sater and music by Duncan Sheik. In our interview previewing the show, director Brooke Wood gave me a heads up about how talented the cast was, but I was still blown away by the vocalists on stage.

Despite their youth, Hunt and Odenthal seem to have decades of experience on stage, shining independently but also during their duets. The pair really reflected the sweetness of young friendship and young love, and their final scenes together brought my mother, who watched the show with me, to tears.

The riff off between Jacob and Malachi Burrow, who played Angus, Caterpillar and Mock Turtle blew me away, and I wanted to hear even more from Kynzie Washington, who played Tabatha, the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar 2.

As a soldier named Harold, Blake Carlson really showed the damaging effects of the war, with every loud noise making him jump and scream. As the Mad Hatter, Carlson was fun and kooky, yet still not quite right mentally.

For the moments of sadness and fear, “Alice by Heart” also has a lot of humor, especially when the Caterpillars and the Mock Turtles were on stage.

The impressive cast also included Blake Carlson, Stevie Astudillo, Caid Wood, Corey Drake, Ronan Granier, Jaes Jameson, Hannah Strickland, Juliet Hunt, Izabella York, Destanie Dunbar, Hunter Kennedy, Tyson Beckett, Preston Dunn, Stormy Christopherson and Violet Jurchivhch.

While the band was hidden by the screen at the back of the stage, they were certainly heard, managing the musical highs and lows that bouncing from whimsical Wonderland to somber present day required.

Music director Scott Michaelson played piano and conducted the band, which included Merilee Updike, Tim Zilar, Mason Oyler, Jeremiah Taylor, John Gardner and Sofiya Vinnikova.

The show is stage managed by Abigail Zimmerman and assistant stage managed by Kayla Lundgren. Carlson was the set assistant, and Sam Bajorek was the assistant lighting designer.

Though I enjoyed the time in Wonderland, the scenes in the tube station, and Carlson’s portrayal of a soldier with PTSD, really got me thinking. Be it the bombing during the Blitz or the bombings of the Gaza War, life goes on even when the world is terrifying, and people seek out ways to escape the terror.

If imagining yourself in Wonderland helps you through the worst of it, imagine on.

“Alice by Heart” runs through Feb. 15 at Lake City Playhouse.