“I’M LATE! I’m late! For a very important date!” shouts the white rabbit as he scurries across the black-and-white tile stage.
Alice follows in curious pursuit as the white rabbit appears on the left stage door. Then a split second later, he appears on the right stage door. Then again on the left. And again on the right! The visual tricks continue as he finally runs through rows in the audience and jumps down the “rabbit hole” (otherwise known as the orchestra pit).
Dan Norman
The Children’s Theatre Company production of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland is artfully and hilariously crafted, giving a fresh feel to the story of the adventurous little girl following that dutifully late white rabbit through a maze of imaginative and nonsensical vignettes.
Between the Mad Hatter’s magical pop-up tea party and floating chairs, the creepy Cheshire cat’s hovering grin and oversized furry body parts, and the almost perfectly balanced Humpty Dumpty somehow resting atop a rocking ladder, Alice In Wonderland is a production for all ages to enjoy. The optical illusions, sleight-of-hand tricks, and slapstick humor will have both the kids and kids-at-heart laughing throughout the night.
Dan Norman
Twenty actors of all ages perform multiple roles seamlessly: high-school student Haden Cadiz balances four different roles, musician Victor Zupanc is a one-man-music show, playing everything from piano to drum set to the kazoo and coconuts—sometimes even all at once. The Queen of Hearts, played by Autumn Ness, is fabulously intimidating with hips as wide as she is tall while toting around the sleepy King of Hearts, Gerald Drake, on a leash.
But the star of the show is Alice, played by the adorable Anna Evans. Evans is only a sophomore in high school, but you’d never guess it thanks to her on-stage maturity, clear singing voice, and outrageously believable (yet still fake) British accent.
Playing through June 15, Alice In Wonderland‘s whimsical nonsense and kaleidoscope of colors makes it the perfect summer show—a true reminder that “life is but a dream.”
Alice in Wonderland
Through Saturday, June 15
The Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls.
612-874-0400, childrenstheatre.org
