Alice by Heart, the latest theatrical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, similarly shortchanges characterization and depth for gimmicky effects. Featuring a rock-tinged score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater of Spring Awakening and a book by Sater with director Jessie Nelson, this musical places the Wonderland world in London during the blitz of World War II.
Edward Pierce’s dank set depicts an underground subway station converted into a hospital ward. To escape the din of Nazi bombs and the impending death by tuberculosis of her sweetheart Alfred, young Alice Spencer recreates the Carroll work in her mind with her fellow patients, pompous doctor, and domineering nurse as the fantastic inhabitants.
It’s an intriguing conceit, but Sater and Nelson’s book barely establishes the characters so there is no emotional investment in their desperation to retreat from reality. Also the rationalization for Alice acting out the story by heart is not very strong—the nasty nurse who later turns up as the shrieking Queen of Hearts (surprise!) tears up the book of Wonderland in a fit of pique.
Sheik and Sater’s score features some sweet and stirring songs, and Nelson’s staging does include some novel images such as the stuffy doctor transforming into the Jabberwocky with arms made of rifles and crutches. But the sameness of the concept grows repetitive. With each fantasy sequence, Alice’s actual woes creep in, she and Alfred (as the White Rabbit) freak out, end scene, fade to the next similar scene.
Molly Gordon displays a lovely, dark voice conveying Alice’s deep ache of yearning and Colton Ryan is an appealing Alfred. Andrew Kober is a sweetly melancholy Mock Turtle, Noah Galvin a campy Duchess, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe a sleek and mysterious Cheshire Cat, Grace Mclean a scary Queen of Hearts, and Heath Saunder a cool, hookah-smoking Caterpillar. But even at 90 intermissions minutes, this Alice is a tedious, less-than-golden afternoon.
