Review: Kaleidoscope of Colorful Creatures and a Youthful Cast Bring MSMT's ALICE IN WONDERLAND To Life

Maine State Music Theatre closes its TYA series with an imaginative revival of Robin & Clark’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The third children’s production of the season features a young cast – local actors ages 11-18 from the theatre’s Summer Intensive program and the MSMT Singers - in a colorful, clever production that combines song, dance, and puppetry.

One of Robin & Clark’s early children’s shows, ALICE IN WONDERLAND is faithful to Lewis Carroll’s original, keeping the beloved characters, and heightening the whimsical moments with music and dance. ALICE features all the hallmarks of the creative duo’s children shows including engaging the audience, breaking the fourth wall, and reimagining some of the characters with wacky and loveable twists. Robin‘s music is melodic and memorable with demanding vocal parts and lovely textured harmonies, while Clark’s lyrics are snappy, witty and sophisticated and his book tells Carroll’s sometimes rambling tale with streamlined clarity. 

Betsy Puelle directs, working with the youth cast to learn the aspects of puppetry and to blend the school-age local actors with the pre-professional MSMT Singers into a cohesive ensemble. Her vision is energetic, upbeat, radiating whimsy and joy. Mikayla Jane provides the choreography that seamlessly links actors and puppeteers and suggests the dizzying spin of this nonsensical realm. Music Director, Matt LaBerge does a fine job of performing the score and overseeing the vocal resources.

Puelle also designs the décor which utilizes the colorful Tudor buildings from the SOMETHING ROTTEN! set that serve serendipitously well here in creating an English flavor. The visual concept relies heavily on fanciful projections by Ryan Joyner that stunningly transform Alice’s world from gray reality to the vivid color of her dreams. Into this Wonderland float colorful puppets, suspended on rods, that move with limpid grace in the hands of the black-clad puppeteers.  There are magical moments when the winged butterflies, resplendent in hues of purple, orange, and blue dance with saffron bees through the aisles of the auditorium and across the stage – their wings glistening in Lighting Designer Seifallah Saloto-Cristobal’s enchanted palette.  Flo Cooley’s costumes (Kevin S. Foster II, wigs) are fanciful and fun, bold in color and exaggerated in silhouette, they seem to leap from the pages of a storybook.  Sound Designer Ben Montmagny creates a pleasing balance, while Stage Manager Liz Patton ably anchors the show.

The cast communicates a sense of true wonder. As Alice, Carrie Walton is pert, sweet and sassy. She impresses with her lovely soprano in her solo, “Wonderland.” Jasmine Gillenwaters gives a soulful account of the Caterpillar, making her catchy solo, “Part of Life,” warm and witty. Jalen Kirkman has a fine moment as the Knave of Hearts pleading his case in a beautifully sung “Have Mercy “ to the vengeful Queen of Hearts, portrayed with vivid imperiousness and compelling vocal fireworks by Camila V. Romero.

Albert Sterner, as the Mad Hatter, is delightfully wacky and weird, and does justice to his duet, “Nonsense,” with the March Hare, portrayed with amusing quirkiness and balletic energy by Elijah James. Collin Flanagan (Tweedle Dee) and Mikayla Jane (Tweedle Dum) find the fun in the duo’s jazzy  number, “Proper Instructions.” Lizzie Hall makes a loveable Doormouse, while Noam Osher is appropriately hyper as the White Rabbit, delivering an amusing rendition of “Late” and engaging the audience in the “Trial Hoedown.” Chelsea Peña gets to showcase her lush soprano in the Sunflower’s “Open Up Your Eyes” and her crisp diction as The Cheshire Cat in the nonsense limerick, “Jabberwocky.”

Rounding out the vibrant ensemble are: Noelle Daigle, Caroline Hester, Ian Horch, Scout Martin, Elinor Riley, Isla Shovlin, Madelyn Sweet, Libby Tetzlaff, and Rose Tuttle.

Robin and Clark’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND serves as an excellent finale to MSMT’s TYA series, which is committed to educating and engaging youth and inspiring in them a passion for the magic of live theatre. In Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll created an imaginative universe, defying the boundaries of a mundane, often restrictive Victorian world.  Maine State Music Theatre revels in bringing that opulent, visionary dream world to life as it uses music, dance, stagecraft and puppetry to create magic for the young and young at heart.

 

Photos courtesy of MSMT, Dane Whitlock, photographer

ALICE IN WONDERLAND played for four performances at MSMT’s Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME   www.msmt.org  207-725-8769

 

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