Exposure Time, a play about Dodgson the Photographer, at New Jersey Rep

Tonight is the world premiere of Exposure Time by Kim Merrill at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, New Jersey. Is this the first time a work of drama has centered on Charles Dodgson the photographer? Merrill's play won the 2009 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award. Here is some of the blurb from the press release, "Alice Through the Camera Lens":

While Johnny Depp portrays the Mad Hatter on movie screens around the world this winter, Lewis Carroll, the conflicted creator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, will be on stage at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, fighting passionately to be known not as a

children’s author but as Charles Dodgson, the greatest portrait photographer in the British Empire. Standing in his way is the larger-than-life and now tragically forgotten Julia Margaret Cameron, who was the Annie Leibovitz of her day and a constant thorn in Dodgson’s side. The real Alice will be there as well, trying to sort out her complex relationship with Dodgson, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the Victorian Idol of a society that worshiped its poets like rock stars. The world premiere of Exposure Time runs from February 11 through March 21, with an Opening Night performance and High Tea on Saturday, February 13.

[...]

A magical journey into the literary heart of Victorian England, Exposure Time is a perfect play for young teens and above. Schools are invited to contact NJ Rep to discuss booking special discounted matinee performances that include lesson plans and post-show discussions with the actors.

Discounted previews are Thursday and Friday, February 11 and 12 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Regular performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m., with selected Sundays performances at 7 p.m. as well as Thursday and Friday matinees by prior arrangement for students and other groups. Tickets are $40; $35 for previews; $60, opening night; $36 for seniors and students (except opening night); with discounts for groups of ten or more.

There is a review and interview with Ms. Merrill in the Red Bank Orbit here. Tickets can be purchased online here.

Alice in Dingleland - The Panto

Given plenty of money and a reliable seat cushion, I am relatively certain that a keen fan could see 365 different community theater productions of "Alice in Wonderland" this year. Amongst the ever-popular homages to the Disney film, it is always nice to hear of a production that takes a more local angle. "Alice In Dingleland" promises just that.


Dingle is a neighborhood of the English city of Liverpool. Liverpudlians, also known as Scousers, have a strong regional identity and an even stronger accent (think early Beatles).

Following on the success of their first pantomime "Cinderella and her American Fella," the Dingle Community Theatre, have created a "scousalized pantomime" version of Alice in Wonderland:

"Alice In Dingleland" follows the journey of ‘posh’ Alice as she is transformed into a true Scouser after following the white rabbit into the Williamson Tunnels.

Using local settings as our inspirations… Dickinson’s Dingle beauty spot, the Tunnels and Princes Park, we have encountered many characters such as the Scouse Mouse, Dave the Knave “I’m innocent, it’s a stitch up”, the militant gardeners, “you’re a name not a number”. The White Rabbit of course, and the double act that is the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, “Mad, Mad I’m fuming!”

"Alice In Dingleland" will be at the Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG, United Kingdom on the 16 and 17 February, 2010.

A(nother) Wonderland

Opening the Ice Factory Festival at NYC's Ohio Theatre, Anonymous Ensemble's A Wonderland plays July 8 through July 11. "Alice, a talented, urban dreamer approaching middle age, is caught in a quagmire of diminishing potential, corporate insignificance and the mirage of celebrity. This is Lewis Carroll deconstructed by the mind of a modern, mature songstress on a journey of self-identity. A befeathered spectacle; a psychedelic, multimedia/music-fueled trip down the rabbit hole."

Never Wonder Land

If Peter Pan and Alice left their normal boring lives in London and found each other in the same fantastical world, would they ever want to come back to reality? Boom Kat Dance Company's Neverwonderland depicts the search for a place in lives "real" and imagined: set at the height of Industrial Revolution-era England, it deconstructs and rebuilds the borderland at which Neverland and Wonderland confront the world we know.
From May 29 through June 14, at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica, California.

Wonderland Circus

You are cordially invited to Wanderlust Circus's performance of Wonderland Circus: "A tea party and theatrical review in honor of the new queen of wonderland, depicting her legendary adventures with a cast of the finest acrobats, jugglers, dancers, and musicians any world has ever known!" April 24 and 25, and May 1 and 2 at Portland's Bossanova Ballroom.

Alice of the House of Carroll

April 24 through May 30, "Alice of the House of Carroll grabs you by the throat and kicks you down the rabbit hole into a wonderland filled with maniacs and thieves and where love melds with aggression. ...the National Pastime Theater lifts Alice out of her comfortable place in children’s theater and thrusts her onto the city streets of late 19th century Chicago. Like our world today, Chicago at that time was a world that needed to rebuild. Alice, a pleasant little girl, pulses with an instability that is common to everyone and in particular, to a world, like ours, that seems to be disappearing down a rabbit hole. THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR CHILDREN OF ANY AGE."

Wonderland

"Alice’s adventures in Wonderland have never before been told like this…with clowns, acrobats, jugglers, and musicians. When Alice searches for a way back home, she will meet the caterpillar, the white rabbit, and she will have to escape from the dreaded Queen of Hearts. You may think you know this classic story, but hold on to your hats, because this world premiere created by master clown Jeff Raz of Cirque Du Soleil for the Advanced Training Program of the Clown Conservatory and produced by Active Arts will be the wildest, craziest trip to Wonderland you’ve ever taken!" The show is performed from April 18 to May 3 at the Julia Morgan Center in Berkeley, California, and from May 9 to May 17 at the Front Row Theater in San Ramon, California.

What more is there to say?

Shrug off the squareness of reality and fall into a swingin’ re-imagination of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of nonsense and fantasy, come along with Alice as she discovers what wonders lie behind the velvet rope at Wonderland's nightclub, The Looking Glass. An exploration of divergent art influences, “Through The Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice In Wonderland” mixes jazz with classical, Indian, and exotic music to set the mood as dancers mix ballet, tap, contemporary, and jazz dance into a whirlwind of whimsy and bawdy beauty. At Seattle's The Triple Door, March 24, 25, and 26.

What's With Alice?

"Wonderland In Alice: The Uncertainty Principle is a post-modern trip through the worlds of Wonderland and quantum mechanics. ...[it] follows Alice through the ten-dimensions of time and space as she searches for identity in an uncertain world. With help from characters such as the Schizophrenic Cat, the Syphillitic Worm and Tofurky, Alice finds her place in a post-9/11 world by learning to understand quantum physics, human sexuality and the power of choice." Wonderland In Alice: The Uncertainty Principle runs February 4-28 at the Dionysus Theatre Complex's L'il Peach Theatre in New York City.
UPDATE: More information is available at www.whatswithalice.com, which is working now, yay!

Jazzy Alice

"Tumble down the rabbit hole into a nonsensical world of riddle and rhyme, using two uniquely American artistic styles: musical theater and jazz! Alice’s journey into Wonderland features favorites like the Mad Hatter, Caterpillar and Queen of Hearts, reborn through jazz styles from Davis to Monk." Portland's Northwest Children's Theater and School performs this original muscial adaptation from January 23 to February 15. If you aren't close enough to check it out, read Oregon Live's interesting review.

Indigo Moon Alice

Yorkshire's Indigo Moon Theatre is currently touring the U.K. with a shadow puppet performance of "Alice and the White Rabbit": "Join Alice on her magical adventure as she chases the White rabbit back in time on a fantastic spiralling journey into Wonderland. Watch her change in size in this dream-like shadow adaption... On her journey she meets the Cheshire Cat, a two-legged dragon and the March Hare at the mediaeval Mad Hatter's Tea party...'Alice and The White Rabbit' celebrates different shadow techniques and is inspired by the gothic architecture and medieval times of the original white rabbit statue found in St. Mary's Church, Beverley, East Yorkshire."

Philly Fringe

Philadelphia's Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe this weekend includes the Nicole Canuso Dance Company's [update: sold out] Wandering Alice: "Alice [is] a curious wanderer who leads audiences through trials, delights, and a sea of unruly memories that color her identity. Inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by surrealist novelist Haruki Murakami, Wandering Alice will transform Christ Church Neighborhood House into a dreamlike landscape where audiences will be free to watch, wander, get lost, and be found."

One or Two Hits?

Following last year's popular Alice in One-Hit Wonderland, Burbank's Falcon Theatre and Troubadour Theatre Company are presenting Alice in One-Hit Wonderland 2: Through the Looking Glass from July 25 to October 12: "No need to Walk 500 Miles for summer fun! Just jump on the Double Dutch Bus to the Falcon and join Alice, (who in Troubie-land is the wise-cracking housekeeper from The Brady Bunch), Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum, Tweedledee, Red Queen and the rest of the wacky Carroll characters as they bebop along to one-time chart toppers of yesteryear."

Theater down the rabbit hole

Foolsgold Theatre's Alice in Wonderland is touring the U.K. this summer: "Is the rabbit hole a black hole? Is Wonderland a parallel universe? We're all mad here! Join Alice on a magical mystery tour of wacky characters, weird science, and impossible sports as Foolsgold presents a pulsating adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic tale for all the family."
Billed as "outdoor walkabout theatre," Foolsgold is currently playing at the Williamson Tunnels in Liverpool, so the audience actually travels underground along with Alice! See the Foolsgold website for other engagements.

More Toy Theatre

The Music Center of Los Angeles County presents the admission-free (but tickets still required) 2008 Toy Theatre Festival on June 14 and 15, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, with Alison Heimstead and Sibyl O'Malley's Alice in Wonderland being performed eight times over the two days.

Pig and Pepper

In Kate Brehm’s Pig and Pepper, Alice is followed down a toy theater video rabbit hole, using classical AIW illustrations as puppets, and a camera as an overhead projector. Included in the Toy Theater Caberet on Saturday 5/31 at 10:00pm, this piece is part of the 8th International Toy Theater Festival, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. See the Great Small Works website for more information on the show and festival.

"Alice in the Shadows"

(c) Bali & Beyond

Come see "Alice in the Shadows," a psychedelic rock'n'roll shadow play by Maria Bodmann, Cliff DeArment, and the Eggmen! Bring a blanket and enjoy the night under the stars! The performance is part of a "Celebrate Puppetry" Festival on Saturday, June 7, 4-10 PM at McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga, California. Presented in the round on a backlit screen, this filmic theater experience colorfully depicts the literature of Lewis Carroll. Featuring translucent carved color characters and live rock music from the '60s, dramatic lighting, and special effects contribute to the overall dreamscape. Copies of Lewis Carroll's book will be scattered throughout the audience for those wanting to read along with the performance.

For additional information: Call 818/352-5285 or 818/837-9485, email maria@balibeyond.com, or visit www.balibeyond.com/cp.html and www.balibeyond.com/alice/alice.html.

Peter Westergaard' s "Alice in Wonderland"

The world premiere of Peter Westergaard' s "Alice in Wonderland" is set for 8 p.m. Thursday, May 22, in Richardson Auditorium of Alexander Hall at Princeton University. At 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, June 3-4, the opera will be performed at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street in New York.
Tickets for the Princeton performance are $45 for general admission or $10 for students. They are available for the Princeton performance online at www.princeto n.edu/utickets/ or by calling (609) 258-5000.
They are available for the New York performance online at www.symphonyspace. org or by calling (212) 864-5400. Prices for the New York performance range from $30-$50.
Read more here: www.princeto n.edu/main/ news/archive/ S21/01/70M06/ index.xml? section=announce ments.

Alice in Greenwich Village

"Imagine Alice, 7 years old, born and raised in today’s Greenwich Village, New York City. From the moment she wakes up until she rests her weary head, her parents over schedule and manage her day. With Architecture, Piano, Book Club, French and Ballet classes overwhelming her, Alice has forgotten what it is like to be a child and simply play. Will her journey through Wonderland help her reclaim her childhood or is Alice destined to become an adult way before her time?" The New Acting Company presents Alice in Wonderland from April 25 to May 25: www.childrensaidsociety.org/pcc/nac/productions/aliceinwonderland

Opera Alice

Unsuk Chin's opera, Alice in Wonderland, first performed at the Bayerischen Staatoper (Bavarian State Opera) in Munich last year, is now available on DVD. Even if you are not a fan of opera, the costumes and sets are very intriguing and unusual. www.euroarts.com/artikel/dvd/?id=007241_chin_alice_in_wonderland_nicht