Review: Andrew Morrissey's Score Shows Promise in Pallas' World Premiere of LOST IN WONDERLAND

I am sucker for new musicals so when the opportunity arose to attend Pallas Theatre Collective's world premiere workshop production of LOST IN WONDERLAND, I was eager to take it. Pallas has an important mission: providing emerging writers with opportunities to develop their work through a series of readings, workshops, and fully-staged productions. Its particular emphasis is the development of new musicals - to fill what the company perceives as a gap in the DC Metro Area (Signature Theatre is also committed to new musical development, but at a much larger scale).

The workshop production of Andrew Morrissey (Composer/Lyricist) and Ingrid De Sanctis' (Librettist) LOST IN WONDERLAND runs through June 19 at Caos on F in Downtown Washington, DC. For theatre folk, this art gallery space is probably best known for hosting an array of Capital Fringe offerings in past years - and mostly solo shows at that. It's a peculiar place to present a workshop of a new musical, especially one that features a 13-member cast that occasionally is tasked to perform some fairly basic choreography (Christopher Martin). A total of 25 or so chairs are set up for audience members on all four sides of a stage area, which makes for a particularly intimate viewing. In some cases, due to the cramped space, the performers are inches away from one or more of the audience seating sections, which can make it a bit challenging for the audience to appreciate the visual elements as a whole. Still, props must be given to Director Tracey Elaine Chessum (Pallas' Founding Artistic Director), for the attempt at intimacy, and bringing the audience into the story.

In any case, LOST IN WONDERLAND follows a rich history of writers attempting to adapt Lewis Carroll's famous story about the little girl Alice and the peculiar world she enters when she falls down a rabbit hole for the stage. One need not look much further than Frank Wildhorn's relatively recent Broadway flop musical WONDERLAND for an example of how theatrical writers use the characters we all know to tell a new story. Morrissey and De Sanctis do a similar thing here, but in this case the score - and even the story to some extent - is more interesting.

Like WONDERLAND, Lewis Carroll (Benjamin Stoll) is a player in LOST IN WONDERLAND, but here his role is much more prominent. When we first meet him, he's at his desk trying to finish his book. Young Alice (Lillie Jewell) appears to him and they engage in a conversation about whether she likes the story or not. Suddenly, he's transported to Wonderland - the world he created. Time has passed though, and the situation has changed. Everyone, including Alice (Caroline Brent) who is now a teenager, wants to make Wonderland better and change the story for their own benefit. Familiar characters such as the Queen of Hearts (Christine Callsen), Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum (Darren Marquardt), the Mad Hatter (Will Hawkins), the March Hare (Erin Granfield), the White Rabbit (Megan Bunn), and even the caterpillar/cards (Jasmine LaChaé Mays, Ashley K. Nicholas, and Sidney Davis) all want to have a say. Alice is particularly insistent that she's no longer a little girl and needs a Prince (Christopher Michael Richardson) to be added to the equation. Lewis Carroll ("Charles") is reluctant to listen to her or anyone else. He doesn't write stories about princes and the Alice he knows well and loves dearly is nine-years-old. He continues to hold onto what he knows, not letting his characters assume his creative role. The question he must grapple with is whether this is all a dream or whether it is reality?

As this is a workshop production, it's important for me to stress that Morrissey and De Sanctis have some strong material from which to build in the future. The libretto, although repetitive, is quite well-written and features some funny and tender moments that are appropriate given what we know about these characters (Brian J. Shaw's costumes also highlight this familiarity). I think it's a particularly interesting idea to have Carroll play such a central role in the story though, and it's what sets their creation apart from numerous others. The inclusion of additional texts from Carroll himself and A.M.C. Clapp serve the story as well. By far though, the selling point of this new musical is Morrissey's score. Drawing from classical music, pop, jazz, and classic/contemporary musical theatre traditions, he deserves attention not only for his versatility as a writer, but for his complex and intricate compositions. Numbers like "Mad Tea Party," "Wonders Unfold," and "The Card Shuffle" especially highlight Morrissey's versatility as both a composer and a lyricist. "I Am A Prince" is much more your standard contemporary musical theatre fare, but Christopher Michael Richardson sings it so well (and sells it even more so) that it becomes one of the most memorable moments. Accompanied by Musical Director Amy Conley on piano, a cast comprised of adequate to excellent singers bring the songs to life, and their energy is infectious (particularly Richardson and Will Hawkins). While some of the harmonies were a bit muddled and pitch wasn't always consistent on the night I attended, the score is so challenging that these issues can be overlooked, especially in a developmental workshop setting.

Overall, I look forward to what the future holds for this new musical.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

LOST IN WONDERLAND plays through June 19, 2016 at Caos on F, located at 923 F Street, NW in Washington, DC. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online.

Graphic courtesy of Pallas Theatre Collective website.

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