Lake City Playhouse’s ‘Alice by Heart’ combines whimsy with stark reality
Once you start looking into it, it’s a little overwhelming how many works of all mediums were inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
There are numerous film and television adaptations, and appearances from the character of Alice in movies and TV shows that aren’t a straight retelling.
Alice also appears in artworks, including 12 works by Salvador Dali and a large statue by José de Creeft in New York City’s Central Park which features Alice sitting on a mushroom during a tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter alongside characters like the White Rabbit, Dormouse, Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar.
There are also written retellings and sequels to the original story from countries around the world, and references in both classical and popular songs, video games and much more.
But there’s no adaptation quite like “Alice by Heart.” The musical, which features a book by Steven Sater with Jessie Nelson, lyrics by Sater and music by Duncan Sheik, tells of Alice Spencer (Scarlet Hunt), Alfred Hallam (Luke Odenthal) and others taking shelter from the Blitz in a London Underground tube station.
Alice encourages Alfred, who is quarantined because he’s sick with tuberculosis, to travel to Wonderland with her via the classic story, but a nurse (Imani Jacob, who also plays the Queen of Hearts), upset that Alice tried to visit Alfred, rips her book as punishment.
Alice isn’t worried though, as she knows the story by heart. Over the course of the musical, the people waiting with Alice and Alfred in the tube station start to transform into characters from the story.
The result is a blend of fantastical elements and moments of stark reality. Lake City Playhouse’s production of “Alice by Heart” opens Friday and runs through Feb. 15.
The musical also stars Blake Carlson, Stevie Astudillo, Malachi Burrow, Kynzie Washington, Caid Wood, Ashley Techavimol, Corey Drake, Ronan Granier, Jaes Jameson, Hannah Strickland, Juliet Hunt, Izabella York, Destanie Dunbar, Hunter Kennedy, Tyson Beckett and Preston Dunn.
Director Brooke Wood had her eye on producing the show for quite awhile, saying she is obsessed with the music and writing and has loved “Alice in Wonderland” since she was a child. And in a season inspired by classic stories, including “The Sound of Music,” “Little Women,” “The Little Princess” and “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Alice by Heart” fit right in.
“I try really hard to do shows that aren’t as well known, but maybe have either artistic significance or social significance, something a little bit different,” she said.
“Alice by Heart” may not be as well known by audiences, but the actors were well aware of the show, leading to what Wood said was one of the biggest auditions Lake City Playhouse has ever had.
Other productions of “Alice by Heart” often cast adults in the roles of Alice and Alfred, and Wood was initially leaning in that direction herself, but she was so impressed with Hunt and Odenthal’s auditions that she cast the show true-to-age.
“The two of them together are young, and they make you remember being young and in love,” Wood said. “They make you remember the boy next door and all that stuff. I’m sure it could have happened with other actors, but it feels so fresh with them, because it is so fresh. I think that that’s something different than the way some things have been cast before with this show.”
Wood is excited for audiences to see Burrow, who plays Angus, the Knave of Hearts, Caterpillar and Mock Turtle, who she said takes the air out of the room when he sings. Jacob too has “pipes that (Wood’s) rarely heard in this town.”
Over the course of rehearsals, Wood has enjoyed watching the younger actors look to the more experienced actors for advice.
“There’s not an ounce of pretension in that room,” Wood said. “We try really hard not to have that but some casts come by it naturally, and this cast has been so kind to each other.”
To bring the cast from tube station to Wonderland and back again, Wood has enlisted the help of scenic designer Jolena Long and lighting designer Jeremy Whittington. In scenes that take place in the tube station, for example, the lights are bright and overhead, making the place feel stoic. Once in Wonderland however, the lights are colorful, adding to the whimsy.
Middle school students participating in the theater’s afterschool program helped paint the set.
Costumes too must be able to fit into both worlds, so to help with quick changes, the show will use shadow play with actors moving behind screens at times as well as basic underclothing that will work with other elements as needed. Zoe Evans and Lincoln Wood costumed “Alice by Heart.”
Making things even more Wonderland-esque, the costume for Jabberwock, played by Drake, is made from recycled blankets; the Dormouse costume, worn by Techavimol, features teacups for ears.
Adding to the fun, the show features a seven-piece band onstage.
For all its whimsy, “Alice by Heart” is still a sobering coming-of-age story, in which Alice and Alfred realize their lives will never be the same after Alfred’s illness and the war. The character of the Mad Hatter too, often played like the nonsensical character from the original source material, is played in this production as if he is working through PTSD.
Wood didn’t necessarily task the cast with researching the time of the Blitz but instead talked to them about their experiences with losing someone close to them. Wood sees Alfred as walking Alice through the five stages of grief during the show, so she talked about that with the cast as well.
“He’s teaching her, probably, how to let go and how to grieve and and also how to live in the now,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of people ask us, ‘Well, it sounds so sad, and the world is sad. I don’t want to be sad.’ I totally hear them, because I feel that way too, but I also think that it’s got so much joy in other parts of it, and it reflects on who we are as humans. The joy that happens within the show is so much more than it being just a show about the Blitz and letting go and death.”