Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Theater Review: Wonderland

Finding the Way Through the Looking Glass Proves More Difficult than You’d Think
By Lauren Yarger
In a season of musicals that have come up short, Wonderland, featuring composer Frank Wildhorn’s return to Broadway, makes it about halfway to the bullseye before failing to hit its ultimate target.

The music generally is good and the score contains a number of moving, high--belt ballads for which the composer (Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll & Hyde, Civil War) is known, ably performed by actors with solid vocal abilities. Where it goes off course, however, is by trying to give the story a modern twist with a weak book with weak characters by Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy (who also direct and write the lyrics, respectively).

The plot often is confused, but if you don’t know the classic Lewis Carroll story, which is rather confusing itself, you will find yourself as lost as Alice (Janet Dacal) at times, even though the predictable dialogue sounds like it is written for 5 or 6 year olds (minus a more adult political barb thrown at the Tea Party).

And maybe it is. This modern version, though, has an adult. work-weary Alice following a White Rabbit (a grossly miscast Edward Staudenmayer trying to protray a character that just doesn't work) down an elevator to a mysterious Wonderland below her New York apartment building where she has relocated with her daughter, Chloe (Carly Rose Sonneclar) following the breakup of her marriage.

There she meets a variety of odd folks, including the White Rabbit’s cousin, Morris, the March Hare (Danny Stiles), an Hispanic Cheshire Cat named El Gato (Jose Llana) who erroneously thinks he has the power to become invisible , a cool blues-singing caterpillar (E. Clayton Cornelius) and a White Knight hero named Jack (Darren Ritchie).

Ruling over the land is the Queen of Hearts (Karen Mason) who chops off the heads of anyone opposing her. Surreptitiusly attempting to usurp her throne, however, is the Mad Hatter (Kate Shindle) who kidnaps Chloe in an attempt to keep Alice from replacing her in the queen's favor.

El Gato, and Jack with his White Knight backup singers performing corny choreography (by Marguerie Gherricks) are really fun. The fun display of six women playing the caterpillar's legs is clever and visually satusying as well. The large sets (Neil Patel, design) and colorful costumes (Susan Hilferty) are entertaining, and the looking glass effect (Paul Gallo, lighting design) is nicely executed. We are left wondering a few things, however, like why are a bunch of men dressed as child Alice look-alikes? Where did the caterpillar’s legs go?

There isn’t much to wonder about when it comes to the script, however, with dialogue that can be downright laughable at times. When it does veer off the predictable path, it’s not believable at all, like when Alice stops to have a nice chat and a song with Lewis Carroll before resuming her quest to save her kidnapped daughter.

Wonderland leaves us wondering what might have been if the book had been edited and if a few weaker songs had been polished. It could have been a wonder indeed.

Wonderland plays at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway, NYC through May 15. Discounted tickets are available at http://www.givenik.com/show_info.php/Masterworks/288/individual.
Christians might also like to know:
God’s name taken in vain
Reading of tea leaves
Lots of talk and singing about beheadings
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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