‘Alice By Heart’ @ CenterStage Theatre Works (Fairview)
Photo by Charlotte Taylor
—Jan Farrington
CenterStage Theatre Works artistic director Charlotte Taylor has an evident gift for pulling up-and-coming young talent from the wide-open spaces of North Texas. The company produces shows by and for all ages—but their current production Alice By Heart feels especially young in its spirit and execution.
An Alice in Wonderland riff set in (and below) the City of London during the Blitz of World War II, director Taylor has actors driving from Dallas, Fort Worth, Waxahachie and many other locations—eager to grab a chance to work on this emotionally and physically challenging show.
The cast is a diverse mix of high school and college students, recent grads, and a few actual “grown ups” (more or less). And the show—developed in the U.K. for the National Theatre’s annual youth theatre festival “Connections”—has found audiences now on both sides of the Atlantic. (Music and lyrics are by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater of Spring Awakening fame, with book by Sater and Waitress scriptwriter Jessie Nelson.)
This isn’t the Disney Alice of cute animals and comical characters. Though there is a major element of the zany and comic, Alice By Heart takes its worlds seriously, both that of Lewis Carroll’s Alice and of London during the Nazi bombings. Alice Spencer tries to escape into the world of her favorite book, but finds trouble and suffering in both the everyday and the fantastical—and in young people trying to make things better. But the truth is, fixing lives and repairing the world isn’t easy. It might not even be possible—but life and the world go on.
The company fields two troupes of actor/singers, “Brillig” and “Blitz,” who alternate dates through the run. Still more actors are in an ensemble that performs with both casts. The singing is good-to-excellent throughout (music direction by Marquis Xavier McBride), with so many standouts I’m afraid to mention some and accidentally slight a few. The leads are great, but so are the singers in ensemble numbers that ring out with grand power.
My performance’s Alice and Alfred (Emilia Ordoñez and Sammy Campione) make a sweet pair of half-grown best friends; their duets are lovely. Alice is determined to keep Alfred safe and somehow get him healthy (he’s been chronically ill since their childhoods together), whether by real-life efforts (protecting him from the scary Red Cross Nurse played by Audrey Shin) or diving into the Alice fantasy as a way to restore Alfred’s strength and hope. (Alice and Alfred were played as children at my performance by Lily Brown and Bella Brown.)
Shin and Dave Mar, who plays the doctor in an Underground shelter, morph into the Red Queen & King in the world of the book, where the parade of Carroll characters begins. The people sheltering in the Underground slip quietly into new roles: Kabron Pierce and Audrey Murphy as the hookah-ed up Caterpillars, Ellie Nunemaker as the blunt Cheshire Cat, Nick Merritt as the Mad Hatter—plus many more. For a complete cast list of the production and its multiple casts, click on: https://bit.ly/ABHPlaybill?=qr
The clever stage design and construction (of shelter bunk beds, for instance, that fluidly become the bleacher-style benches of the Trial scene) are by Caleb Ross with help from Scott and Jason Rice. The real world/fantasy world costumes by Alison Kingwell come and and off with ease; I especially loved the crossover of the Red Queen/Red Cross Nurse outfit.
Choreographer Sarah Hendricks and assistant choreographer Kristiana Griffin do a terrific job with both dance and movement in the show—which occupies a lot of stage time. Hendricks “So You Think You’re Alice” was great fun, and I enjoyed the raised arms and lively coordination of the “Isn’t It a Trial” crowd sitting in multi-level rows, their routine adding tremendous vitality to what could have been a static scene. And oh yes, the caterpillar-y conga line of the entire cast, waving their fuzzy arms as they snake along the length of the stage.
Alice By Heart is a compelling show for all ages, a showcase for young talent coming up in North Texas—and a bittersweet tribute to the grit, dreams, and determination of young humans, whatever world they’re in, who learn to survive situations of trauma and loss.
WHEN: August 8-18, 2024
WHERE: 132 Town Place, Fairview Town Center, Fairview TX
WEB: cstheatreworks.com
