Edgewater Goes Mad With Alice in Wonderland

by Lauren Reed, Hagerty HS

You’re mad…I’m mad? Everyone is mad- especially when you’re stuck where reality is anything but real, and time has no significance! The curtain opens, bright neon-black lighting pulls the audience in, and everything else is forgotten. You’re falling into a world of absurd, sheer madness- in Edgewater High School’s production of Alice in Concert.

Alice in Concert, written and composed by Elizabeth Swados, is based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and was first preformed in 1980 at the Public Theatre in New York. As a musical, new characters and main ideas were added to give new uniqueness to the storyline. Alice (Ashley Pinnock), a very inquisitive adolescent, stumbles down a hole and lands in a fanatical land. Alice must face her fears, battling monstrous creatures like the Jabberwocky, the Mad Hatter, the Hare, and the Red Queen. In her adventure, Alice shows that only a seven-and-a-half year old like her could conquer such a land.

Musical styles true to the setting of the 60’s and early 70’s were used, combined with brilliant neon lights, to set the mood of a more “psychedelic” era. With thirty-four musical numbers, the energy level never diminished as the play progressed. The cast used every element of the stage, along with numerous props, which appeared out of nowhere and were perfect additions to the mysterious land and creatures.

Playing Alice, and giving her wit, sarcasm, and curiosity that a young child should have, might be difficult to stay true to, but Ashley Pinnock made it clear that this Alice was nothing short of these qualities. Pinnock stayed on pitch, kept her energy up, and projected well when dancing on stage. Pinnock thoroughly kept her childish behavior, and even with a few microphone malfunctions, could be heard very clearly.

Many characters added humor and new individuality which makes this play diverse from the story. The cast had multiple roles, and worked together to form an ensemble- though each showed their individualism when singing and dancing. Alice comes upon a Baby (Hart Morse), who hysterically portrayed expressions and body movements of a baby. Tweedle Dee (Christine Pryor) and Tweedle Dum (Taylor Keeley) played very well off of each other, both being equally funny.

Lighting illuminated the stage well from beginning to end, and the use of spotlight on Alice in key times was perfect. The story-book like costumes, props, and makeup also stayed true to the 60’s, and helped tie in the music.

The cast all played off of the era of the setting perfectly, and seemed to make this unrealistic world of wonder come to life. Even for a seven year old girl- in the imagination- getting away in a wonderful fantasy is always a nice break in what hectic everyday life has come to be.

Originally published in The Backstage Noise, Winter 2006