Review: WORLD PREMIERE OF ALICE'S WONDERLAND OPENS IN KANSAS CITY at Coterie Theatre

The Coterie Theatres' world premiere of a new family musical, ALICE'S WONDERLAND runs at The Coterie Theatre at Crown Center through August 7. Adapted from the Lewis Carroll classic story the musical features an original score with book, music, and lyrics by J. Quinton Johnson and Julia Riew. Brianna Woods directs, with musical direction by Delano Mendoza, and choreography by Marc Wayne.

Based on a treatment by Linda Chichester and David Coffman, ALICE'S WONDERLAND is the tale of teenage inventor Alice who has developed a new video game, Wonderland. Alice leaps into the game after Rabbit emerges from it and offers her an escape from reality. She lands in a world of make-believe that challenges her to find her inner strength. The original score for ALICE'S WONDERLAND could be found on Billboard's Hot 100 and has not been heard in theatres for young audiences. The modern-day musical is adapted from ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll.

Though some of the Hip-hop music wasn't to my liking (not fond of the genre) other musical numbers were very entertaining and the choreography was very well done. I found ALICE'S WONDERLAND to be entertaining and thought-provoking to an older youth audience. I don't see the resemblance to the Lewis Carroll classic. The only resemblance is the names of the characters that Alice runs into, and of course the name Alice, and then there's Wonderland.

Genevieve Lefevre is spectacular as Alice, who invents a game and then is drawn into it. She has a beautiful voice, the type you could listen to daily, and appears to be an accomplished actor. She is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Theater, Dance, and Media. Hopefully, she will appear on more Kansas City stages as everyone should get an opportunity to watch her perform.

The world premiere at The Coterie is packed with very talented performers. Robert Vardiman stars as Rabbit, who convinces Alice to follow him to her Wonderland. There she meets Cat portrayed by Courtney Germany, Caterpillar played by Douglass Walker, Amari Lewis as The Queen of Hearts, and Danny Gage as The Mad Hatter.

ALICE'S WONDERLAND continues at The Coterie through August 7. Purchase tickets online at www.thecoterie.org or call the box office at 816-474-6552.

Photos by Jim Vaiknoras courtesy of The Coterie Theatre

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