New ALICE IN WONDERLAND Exhibit Opening at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center in Lincoln Center will present the free multimedia exhibition Alice Live! The exhibition will trace the history of Lewis Carroll's beloved Alice stories in live performance from their first professional staging through today. Alice Live! will be on display from October 2, 2015 through January 16, 2016 in The Library for the Performing Arts's Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery, Shelby Cullom Davis Museum.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a perfect example of how great literature inspires great art," said Jacqueline Z. Davis, Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleishman Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. "But Alice is a particular touchstone for the performing arts, and has sparked the imagination of countless actors, playwrights, composers, choreographers, and others who have found fascinating and creative ways to bring Lewis Carroll's tales to life for audiences of all ages. Our hope is that this exhibition illuminates the process of adapting iconic works of literature for the stage."

Alice Live! is curated by Charlie Lovett, a collector of Carroll materials for over 30 years, author of Alice on Stage and other studies of Carroll, and the bestselling author of the novels The Bookman's Tale and First Impressions. With hundreds of artifacts on display, the exhibition will include items drawn from Lovett's own collection, as well as from The Library for the Performing Arts, and other collections. Alice Live! begins with an examination of Lewis Carroll's own enthusiasm for entertaining and theatergoing, and documents the first professional stage production of Alice in London in 1886. Scripts for rival productions reveal how the adapters combined scenes and characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Playbills, advertisements, and photographs from early productions will be on display, and posters, photos, audio, and video from Alice productions in England and throughout North America through the years will show developments in costumes, composing, scenic design, acting style, and theatrical marketing. Alice Live! also showcases ballet, opera, music, and even versions of the stories performed in the Ice Capades and underwater. The exhibit, which is designed to appeal to all ages, will also include a reading area, a giant chess set, and other special elements just for families and children.

"The bizarre characters, witty dialogue, and infinite mutability of the Alice stories have attracted performing artists from the earliest stage productions in the 19th century through the immersive theatre of today," said Lovett. "Working on Alice Live! has been an exciting journey through theatre, opera, ballet, music and more of the past century and a half. I'm thrilled to be able to share that journey with exhibit goers."

The opening of Alice Live! is part of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America's Alice150 Week in New York, a multi-faceted initiative. In true Carrollian fashion, this week of exhibitions, readings, talks and conferences will last not seven but a "curiouser and curiouser" nine days from October 2 to October 11, 2015. It is part of a year-long calendar of global, national and local events coordinated by the Society. Visit Alice150.com for additional information on Alice150 Week in New York.

Highlights from The Library for the Performing Arts's Alice Live! exhibition include:

Lewis Carroll's typewriter

Letter from Carroll to Henry Savile Clarke giving approval to adapt the Alice stories for the stage for the first time on the condition that the piece include no "coarseness, or anything suggestive of coarseness."

Picture of Sonja Henie Ice Revue, 1939, which included Alice in Wonderland

Original designs for the Radio City Music Hall's lavish 1933 Alice in Wonderland mini-musical

Score, poster and audio clips from the musical Alice in Concert by Liz Swados, which starred Meryl Streep in a production at the Public Theatre directed by Joseph Papp

The first Alice song book, published in 1870 with music by William Boyd

The Mad Hatter puppet designed by Tony Sarg for 1930 Broadway production

Scripts for two mid-1950s live television broadcasts

Costume designs for Broadway and ballet productions

Recordings of musical performances, and a newly discovered 1933 radio broadcast of Alice

In conjunction with the exhibition, The Library for the Performing Arts will offer a series of public programs. The Library will also present Aspects of Alice, a series of film screenings which showcase over 100 years of film adaptations, including rare silent films and experimental treatments of Alice.

Alice Live! Public Programs

**Unless otherwise noted, all programs and screenings listed below are free, intended for adults, and take place at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Visit nypl.org/AliceLive for details.**

Saturday, October 3 @ 10:30am

On A Golden Afternoon: Lewis Carroll's Premier Alice Performance

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland began as a performance. On a "golden afternoon" in 1862 Lewis Carroll improvised the story aloud, as he looked after and entertained the three daughters of Henry Liddell, including, most importantly, the precocious Alice Liddell. Charlie Lovett, author, scholar and curator of the Library's current exhibition, shares the details of Carroll's love for performing and his invention of Alice in Wonderland. See artifacts from Carroll's world up close. Participate in a reading from a facsimile of Carroll's own hand written early draft of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and enjoy a morning of storytelling, wordplay, and interactive Wonderland fun.

Advance registration recommended online or in person at the Library's Welcome Desk.

Monday, October 5 @ 6pm

Who's Alice: An Evening with Kate Burton, David Del Tredici, Larry Pine, Monica Edinger, and Robert Sabuda

In 1982 the acclaimed actress Kate Burton launched her career portraying Alice in the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of Alice in Wonderland. With Alice Symphony, Haddock's Eyes, In Memory of A Summer Day, and other works, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici has conjured the sounds of Wonderland throughout his career. In 1968 Larry Pine and director Andre Gregory flung audiences down a reinvented, psychedelic rabbit hole. Today, Monica Edinger, celebrated teacher, author, and blogger at Educating Alice, helps us understand Lewis Carroll's legacy, creating new stories about inquisitive, intelligent, adventurous children. Pop-up book artist Robert Sabuda literally makes worlds of paper and color explode up from the pages of a tiny book. Five great artists come to the Library to examine the enduring allure and fascination of Alice. The program will be moderated by Lewis Carroll expert and author Charlie Lovett.

Advance registration recommended online or in person at the Library's Welcome Desk.

Thursday, November 19 @ 7pm

What's Wonderland: New Poetry and Spoken Word performances Inspired by Alice in Wonderland

Since the Alice stories were first published in the late 19th century, the imaginative characters and absurd scenes of Lewis Carroll's underground world have inspired artists of all types. Join us for a distinctly 21st century take on a journey to Wonderland. With words, music, and images, celebrated NYC poet and spoken word artists Miles Hodges and Alysia Harris relate, rearrange, and reinterpret the classic Carroll stories, and answer for a new generation - "What's Wonderland?"

Advance registration recommended online or in person at the Library's Welcome Desk.

Monday, November 23 @ 6pm

Story Pirates Raid the Library

Story Pirates is a nationally respected education and media organization founded in 2003 to celebrate the words and ideas of young people. Each year Story Pirates' team of educators and actors visit hundreds of schools, providing empowering lessons about imagination and storytelling. They turn original stories written by kids into hilarious, uplifting live performances. For this program, using music, puppets, and improv comedy, the Story Pirates will share a glimpse of the world through the minds of kids.

Advance registration recommended online or in person at the Library's Welcome Desk.

Aspects of Alice Film Series

Tuesday, October 6 @ 2:30pm

Alice in Wonderland, Directed by Cecil Hepworth, 1903

screening with

Alice in Wonderland, Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, 1933. Starring Gary Cooper and Cary Grant, Charlotte Henry, and W.C. Fields.

Tuesday, October 13 @ 2:30pm

Alice in Wonderland, Directed by W.W. Young, 1915

screening with

Alice in Wonderland, Directed by Bud Pollard, 1931. Starring Ruth Gilbert.

Tuesday, October 20 @ 2:30pm

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Produced by the Edison Company, 1910

screening with

Dreamchild, Directed by Gavin Millar, 1985. Starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, and Peter Gallagher.

Tuesday, October 27 @ 2:30pm

Curious Alice, Produced by the National Institute of Mental Health, 1972

screening with

Alice, Directed by Jan Svankmajer, 1988