MTI Acquires Licensing Rights for ALICE BY HEART

Theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) has announced that Alice by Heart has joined the MTI catalogue and will be available for licensing in the early part of 2023 for a limited time only.

From the TONY® and GRAMMY® award-winning creators of Spring Awakening, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, and co-written by Jessie Nelson (Waitress), Alice by Heart is a touching musical inspired by Alice's madcap adventures in Wonderland. Featuring an incredible pop-rock score and a unique twist on Lewis Carrol's classic tale, Alice by Heart follows the story of a young girl who takes refuge in a London Tube station during WWII and confronts grief, loss, and love with the help of her favorite book, Alice in Wonderland.

In the rubble of the London Blitz of World War II, Alice Spencer's budding teen life is turned upside down, and she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

As they travel through the tale, Alice by Heart explores the poignancy of first love, coming to terms with loss, and finding the courage to move forward. The musical encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even in the harshest of times.

Alice by Heart opened Off-Broadway in 2019 at the MCC Theater, and was hailed by The New York Times as, "A fantastical, magical mystery tour with ingenuous costumes, Noel Coward-ish wit, and dreamy songs...with echoes of music from Spring Awakening."

New York Stage Review stated that the show is, "Transcendent, a term that can still be applied only occasionally to contemporary musicals," while The New Yorker stated that Alice by Heart is, "A sage allegory of the utility of literature as a guide for our darkest tribulations."

An original cast album was released in 2019 on Ghostlight Records and featured Molly Gordon as Alice and Colton Ryan as Alfred/The White Rabbit. The current combined global total of streams of the cast album is roughly 9.3 million.

Steven Sater also released Alice by Heart as a Young Adult novel in 2020 to the delight of the musical's legion of fans.

"When we set out to create Alice by Heart, our aim was to construct a show which could touch young hearts," remarked Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik and Jessie Nelson. "And from our earliest performances at MCC Theater, it was remarkable the way young people took to the show. Never could we have imagined, though, how timely our musical would become, what with the onset of the COVID pandemic, the global refuge crises, the war in Ukraine... Sheltering in an Underground Station during World War II, it is only through the power of the imagination -- and the real magic of theatre -- that Alice is able to transcend the hardships she faces and transport Alfred and herself to Wonderland. The overwhelming response to our cast album and the countless loving messages we've received have moved us profoundly. Making the show available to you all now is our way of saying thanks."

Drew Cohen, President and CEO of Music Theatre International stated, "Steven, Duncan and Jessie have created something truly special with their inventive reimagining of the classic Lewis Carrol story. Both London and Wonderland provide the backdrop for a beautiful exploration of the human condition, and the book, music and lyrics artfully interweave between these two settings. It's no surprise that theatres all across the country have been asking about performing Alice by Heart since its run at the MCC Theater."

Visit the MTI show page here for licensing and additional information. International restrictions apply.

About Music Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI's Broadway Junior™ shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI's School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City with additional offices in London (MTI Europe) and Melbourne (MTI Australasia).

Photo Credit: Deen Van Meer