Children’s Theatre Company’s wildly creative version of Lewis Carroll’s Timeless Classic – Alice in Wonderland Returns for the First Time in Over a Decade
February 13-March 31, 2024
This past week, AMA was kindly invited to a fresh rendition of Alice in Wonderland, which will run until March 31, 2024 at the Children’s Theatre Company. Our agenda included pre-show reception of community organizations with opportunities for networking, but we would be remiss not to mention our run-in with a protest targeting the Minneapolis Institute of Arts outside the premises. The CTC and MIA share a building, explaining the protestors’ presence, and they related to us their growing frustrations with MIA’s leadership and lack of follow-through on diversity initiatives. More information can be found here.
The stage performance itself was a very enjoyable and bright experience, which ran for two hours with a fifteen-minute intermission. Alice in Wonderland on its own is not a unique story, but this performance was a new twist on a classic while meeting the familiar beats. It was lighthearted but not childish. Full of humor and fun, it quickly bounced from act to act without a moment for boredom.
The actors were well-cast with incredible vocals and stage presence. They moved almost cartoonishly, playful and full of life. Very well-rehearsed, never turning their back to the audience or crossing the line of action incorrectly even while criss-crossing the stage or even moving around the audience. They seemed very in tune with the stage and its limits, and how also to play with those limits in a way that was cheeky, as if the characters both were and were not aware they were in a story with how they played with the audience. Line delivery was perfect and the singing performances were stunning, bursting out into the kind of skill one might expect from performances on Broadway.
The costumes were great as well. Alice was a bit subdued and “real”, but that’s fitting. The wonderland characters as well as the ensemble had costumes bursting with energy and color without being too clashing. The ensemble with their black-and-white patterned costumes, while initially a bit off-putting, did work well for the wonky feeling Wonderland gives and against the checkered stage, they blended in well without getting lost. The set pieces were lovely and the prop work was extremely well-done, and included creative use of puppetry to bring Wonderland’s wacky ensemble to life. All in all, the show was a lovely experience that is sure to be enjoyable for families and theater aficionados.
