The Anthony Minghella Theatre at Quay Arts was transformed into Wonderland as Alice The Musical brought Lewis Carroll’s timeless masterpiece, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, to life through a dazzling combination of music, choreography, and imaginative stagecraft. Headed up by Luke Mulhern and Donna Louise, this was the first full show of the Island’s newest Youth Theatre group, Get On Stage.
For the team and young members of Get On Stage it is not about creating the most polished productions, but making all aspects of theatre fun, with their weekly sessions including time spent on behind-the-scenes elements of a production, in addition to the standard Triple Threat. This was evident in Alice The Musical, where the whole cast had contributed to the artwork of the set and props.
The whimsical world of Wonderland introduced us to a host of colourful creatures and individuals, each represented by the enthusiastic, young cast who embodied the unique personalities of the iconic characters. This was no mean feat when you consider that for many of the cast (ranging from ages 6 to 16) this was their first performance on stage and, for others, another step towards developing their confidence. As a Musician-Teacher, and passionate advocate for Creative Arts Education, this is something I know about all too well, personally and professionally. It is for this reason that I am going to give each individual member of Get On Stage a mention, no matter how small a part they played, as their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the experience was clear for the audience to see!
For this production of Alice The Musical, the titular character’s innocence, wide eyed curiosity and determination to make sense of the nonsensical world, was delivered ably by Bella Davis throughout the whole show. Maddie Cox was the ever-rushing White Rabbit, with the character’s I’m Late feature song requiring clear enunciation at an equally fast tempo that Maddie fulfilled with vigour.
Having followed the White Rabbit Down, Down, Down the void, eaten and drank items that changed her size multiple times, and cried ‘gallons of tears’, Alice began to meet the curious creatures of Wonderland at the Caucus Race, including Dodo (Josie Begg), Lory (Josie Blake) and Mouse (Millie Smith), the latter who sang a short, rhythmic song explaining their “sad and long tale”.
After frightening Mouse away – talking about her cat, Dinah – Alice changed size again, met the lazy, “cool-dude” Caterpillar (Maisie Holt) and later finds herself at the home of the Duchess (Francesca McCourt), where she’s greeted by Fish Footman (Olivia Smith) and Frog Footman (Pollie Newson), before arriving in a smoke-filled kitchen where she finds Duchess, her crazy cook (Bethany Hardy), a grinning cat (Vincent Peacey) and a baby that turns out to be a pig. At the end of this scene, following a conversation with the Cheshire Cat, Alice is left reflecting on the people and places she’s so far met in Wonderland.
The second half opened with the famous tea-party nonsense scene featuring Alice, March Hare (Ruby Gilpin), sleepy Dormouse (Lilly McCarty) and, of course, The Mad Hatter (Lillie Newson). The flamboyant charm of this scene provided moments of comic brilliance while maintaining an air of frenzied unpredictability.
As Alice finds the Wonderland Garden she’s been looking for, she finds the two, five and seven of hearts (Olivia Smith, Lily Higgins and Pollie Newson respectively) painting a rose-tree. Her dialogue with them is interrupted by the arrival of the commanding Queen Of Hearts. Maisie Holt’s performance in the show was two fold, with her execution of the commanding Queen being a stark contrast with the laid-back Caterpillar she had portrayed in the first act. This time she was accompanied by the King Of Hearts (Edward Cox; also Rev. Duckworth), the most adorable Executioners you ever did see (Daniel & Teddy Thompson) and a pack of playing cards personated by other members of the cast. After a game of Croquet – featuring Ivie Newson and Sylvie Baker as the Hedgehogs; one of whom displayed gymnastic skill, in the form of beautiful forward rolls – the Queen takes Alice to meet the Gryphon (Lilley-Mae Lord) and Mock Turtle (Sophia Wherry).
The songs of the show were simplistic, and easily accessible for the young cast, but had catchy melodies which had me humming later in the day. The members of Get On Stage delivered a strong unison sound, but it was Sophia Wherry’s vocals that particularly stood out for me where she displayed maturity, flexibility and control in the Mock-Opera song, Beautiful Soup.
The following scene finds all present in a courtroom during the trial of the Knave Of Hearts (Isabella Pedreschi) to find out Who Stole The Tarts? Alice is called to testify, but loses her patience over the illogical and nonsensical proceedings. In opposing the Queen’s view, the story reached its climax as the Queen calls for Alice’s execution in Off With Her Head! The entire jury and courtroom join in with the Queen’s pronouncement “Who cares for you?” to which Alice snaps back with “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” At this point, the pack of cards rise into the air, fly back down onto Alice as she wakes up in the opening scene, alongside her sisters Edith (Lola Clare) and Lorna (Ivie Newson) – and tells them of her curious dream in Wonderland (Reprise).
To conclude, some of the spoken dialogue came across a tad rushed at times – likely related to nerves – but it did not disrupt the flow of the overall performance. There were also moments where mics weren’t quite sat right, or perhaps not switched on, (so not always fully audible) but the youngsters affected by these moments kept going like pros.
I have followed the journey of Get On Stage since their formation in October and look forward to seeing how the company develops and how the youngsters involved continue to grow in confidence in upcoming productions.
Reviewed by Sarah Nerval.
Photos by Jennifer Thompson
IWtheatre 