Wondering about Wonderland…

Theatre
Alice – The Musical
Manoel Theatre

Falling down rabbit holes and finding things becoming “curiouser and curiouser” is thought to be the stuff of fairy tales…

Larissa Bonaci’s Alice could not have been better...- André Delicata

And what better fairy tale than Lewis Carroll’s cleverly disguised take on philosophy and linguistics than his classic Alice in Wonderland?

Maleth Theatre Company’s production of Alice – The Musical last weekend was a brave effort at staging a performance whose book and music by Mike Smith, Robin Hayes and Vernon Mound required strong casting and a cohesive vision which director Ray Mamo provided only in part.

I am very fond of Alice mythology and had my suspicions confirmed when I realised that the script was yet again another mishmash of the two Alice books – and while purists will frown, I must admit that elements from Through the Looking Glass merged with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland make for very good theatrical fodder.

Indeed, the Walrus and the Carpenter, played by Audrey Scerri and Michela Farrugia respectively, is a good example of a poem taken from Through the Looking Glass, which is often worked into a general Alice piece.

The colourful host of characters that the young protagonist meets is really quite incredible and the way in which the heroine deals with all whom she meets with candour and aplomb is quite fascinating.

Larissa Bonaci’s Alice could not have been better, with clear diction and a sweet singing voice which are evident of her extensive formal theatrical training.

Following Neville Refalo’s excellent White Rabbit down the rabbit hole, she proceeds to walk her way through the zany world of Wonderland.

I particularly liked her interactions with Narcy Calamatta’s Caterpillar, Renato Dimech’s Mad Hatter/ Mock Turtle and Marvic Doughty’s Duchess.

Mr Calamatta may not be able to sing to save his life, but his characterisation of the pompous blue caterpillar was spot on and embodied those traits that Carroll was so desirous to make fun of.

Equally entertaining and just the right dose of irritating was Ms Doughty as the Duchess, who takes a shine to Alice regardless of the latter’s dislike of her.

Dispensing useless morals and acting rather arrogantly, she was a vehicle for Carroll to vent his feelings about people whose privileged position made them insufferable.

However, the one character whose power really did go to her head was the Queen of Hearts, played by Tiziana Calleja.

Her oft-repeated threat “off with their heads!” has entered the literary canon as a classic quote and Ms Calleja certainly did it justice.

With music direction under David Sammut and Abigail Brown as vocal coach, the members of the chorus as well as most soloists, managed to present the audience with a selection of very catchy songs which were quite new and fresh. This is what made the piece stand out, along with choreography by Janice De Giovanni.

The considerably numerous cast of youngsters added to a growing list of newcomers like Maria Giorgio Farrugia Sacco, who played the young Alice Liddell – Carroll’s real-life muse for his fictional Alice, Reah Gavin who played the Dormouse and Sean Briffa as Card Leader/Knave of Hearts.

These three new faces showed much promise and worked well with more seasoned actors like Renato Dimech, whose Mock Turtle I preferred to his Hatter.

His interaction with Christine Briffa Francalanza’s ancient Gryphon was quite fluid and made up for the rather oversimplified costumes and set used.

This was a recurring problem in the performance, with the main cast dressed rather sumptuously by May Vassallo and Stephen Aquilina, while the supporting chorus and dancers were not always on par, creating a rather marked discrepancy.

A production like this does requires a certain budget but it is clear that Maleth made the best of what they had.

The multi-level narrative approach that the script attempted to take, with the young Alice Liddell being told the story by the Rev. C. Dodgson, played by Kris Spiteri, was a valiant take on the exposure of the author and muse behind the work and worked to some extent.

I did not, however, find Mr Spiteri particularly convincing as Lewis Carroll’s alter-ego.

With so many scenes and songs to squeeze in, some characters were simply given a cursory role such as Kate Decesare’s Cheshire Cat, Jane Pillow’s Hare and Eire Stuart’s King of Hearts – all of whose good parts were disappointingly short: they are particularly good at character acting and I’d have liked to see more of their specialty in action.

Alice – The Musical had a lot of potential that was partially unlocked – giving the audience glimpses into a truly enjoyable show, which ended on a rather ambiguous climax with Alice fleeing the playing cards rather than facing them… although admittedly, the final song was, in itself very well rendered.