Margie Mays and Sam O’Byrne (Photo by Zach Mendez)
Reviewed by Philip Brandes
Ensemble Theatre Company in Santa Barbara
Through June 16
RECOMMENDED
Precocious, fiercely independent teen heartthrob Alice Pleasance Liddell was a Victorian-era pop star, enjoying name recognition at every level of society. She’d come by that fame at the age of ten, not through any particular accomplishment other than having charmed and inspired an eccentric Oxford mathematician to pen one of the most famous children’s fantasy books of all time. Yes…that Alice.
In the thoroughly entertaining “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland,” a biographically-themed musical by playwright/songwriter Mark Saltzman receiving an impressively polished world premiere staging from Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company, the real-life Liddell (rhymes with “riddle”) once again provides the inspiration for a work of quirky creative imagination.
Pitting modern romantic sensibilities against the rigid class structure and social conventions of England during the reign of Queen Victoria, Saltzman’s serio-comic coming-of-age story opens in 1872 Oxford, “the world’s oldest English-speaking university” which is steeped in tradition and protocol and where Alice’s father served as Dean of Christ Church College.
Already equipped with an intellectual sophistication and education rivalling the male academics around her, rebellious nineteen-year old Alice (Margie Mays) chaffs at the limited opportunities afforded by her cloistered, status-without-wealth station in life. Now, on the cusp of womanhood, Alice resents spending far too much of her time autographing copies of “those books” and feigning delight to her adoring fans.
Atop a fine cast, Mays brings an engaging mix of comic timing, worldly smarts and post-adolescent naivete to the title role. Though outwardly mature and self-possessed, her Alice harbors a closely-guarded inner world she shares with her imaginary childhood friend and confidante — none other than the hookah-puffing Caterpillar (Matthew Greenwood) from her fictional counterpart’s Wonderland adventures, whom Alice considers “the one creature in those stories that gave any useful advice.” In their private dialogs she still shares her deepest dreams and insecurities, while he challenges her with amusingly snooty commentary and hard truths. “Yes, those books,” he elegantly sizes up her ambivalent vanity about her own fame, “you hate speaking of them, but you love being spoken of.”
Wonderland fantasies collide with real-world academia as Alice’s well-meaning father, Dean Liddle (Brent Schindele) tries to steer her towards realistic marriage prospects — in particular, to athletic mid-tier aristocrat Edward Brocket (Sawyer Patterson), a promising medical student and champion college oarsman. However, Alice has her sights set on the potential for even greater upward mobility afforded by the arrival of Crown Prince Leopold (Sam O’Byrne), who recently enrolled in Oxford despite the maternal misgivings of Queen Victoria (Bree Murphy, in pitch-perfect Lady Bracknell mode).
The historical fact that Leopold and Alice were acquainted while he attended Oxford supplies the launching pad for the show’s entirely speculative account of their ensuing relationship. In their respective ways Alice and Leopold are each fish out of water, trying to find their own identities outside their socially dictated roles. As Alice cleverly out-maneuvers the barriers of propriety to engineer their clandestine meetings, what begins as a calculated social climb for one and an easy seduction for the other deepens into mutual feelings that culminate with the two of them cowering from prying eyes in a superbly stylized boat ride (Readers may recall that it was an enchanted afternoon rowboat ride with Alice and her sisters that prompted Lewis Carroll to invent the tales that became Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).
Creator Saltzman clearly knows his way around a winning musical theatre template, but takes an inventive risk here with an all-a cappella score composed of period-appropriate songs and verse (with vocal arrangements by Jack Lipson). The material is performed in the traditional style of Oxford vocal choruses, in multi-part harmony by the whimsically-named and attired Gentlemen Singers composed of various cast members not otherwise occupied in any particular scene. The conceit is integral in evoking the sense of time and place (and budget friendly to boot). The music rarely outstays its welcome, though an extended “mini-concert” scene could lose a verse or two.
The breezy, fun spirit developed in the Alice-Leopold-Brocket triangular setup takes unexpectedly serious twists and turns in the much shorter second act, where the story dovetails neatly with the outcomes of Alice Liddell and Prince Leopold. Nevertheless, an obscure biographical clue cited in the Caterpillar’s closing monologue hints that their connection might have been more than pure invention.
The meticulous attention to his source material demonstrates the depth of creator Saltzman’s commitment to his subject, and his witty, literate dialog receives admirably assured delivery from all in Jim Fall’s energetically paced, visually lavish staging. Particular kudos are due Harry Feiner’s scenic and projection design, which imposes a fairy tale ambience onto the domes and spires of Oxford.
The biggest challenge facing a specialized meta-themed show such as this is an audience’s potentially limited familiarity with the source material. Unless you remember the Caterpillar’s droll repartee from the novel, for example, the references will fly by without a good deal of the intended fun (His serpentine costume, confusingly bereft of additional arms, is the rare misfire among Michael Mullen’s costume designs). In any case, a little review of Alice in Wonderland beforehand will go a long way towards fully appreciating its charms.
Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara; Wed.-Thurs., 7:30 pm, Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm. www.etcsb.org. Running time: 2 hours and twenty minutes with intermission.
