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| Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Dominick Felix - IF Opera (Photo: LAIMA) |
Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Lara Marie Muller, Dominick Felix, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, Bethany Horak-Hallett, Joanna Harries, Dan D'Souza, Lorena Paz Nieto, Monica McGee, Keel Watson, Alexey Gusev,Emyr Wyn Jones, Katy Thomson, director: Lysanne van Overbeek, conductor Mark Austin; IF Opera at Belcombe Court
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Will Todd's opera still engages old and young in a brand new production from IF Opera
The trick with a good family opera is to provide the right level of entertainment for both adults and children. Will Todd and Maggie Gottlieb's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its debut at Opera Holland Park (OHP), does just that.
A free fantasy on Lewis Carroll's stories, the opera combines highly coloured incarnations of well-known characters, singable tunes with sly references to popular genres, and a plot that merges girls' own adventure with a fight for workers' rights worthy of Brecht and Weill. Oh, and a Blues singing caterpillar, a coloratura bottle and a Queen of Hearts in drag. What's not to love.
As part of its Summer 2023 season at Belcombe Court, IF Opera mounted a new production of Will Todd's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland performed back to back with Giordano's Fedora [see my review] and sharing several members of cast and creative team. I saw the OHP production twice, both times in its original outdoor promenade version (though the company also mounted and indoor version of the production at the Royal Opera's Linbury Studio). At Belcombe, the production was indoors but beforehand members of the cast were roaming the gardens in costume, interacting with the children in the audience.
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| Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lara Marie Muller, Keel Watson - IF Opera (Photo: LAIMA) |
The look and feel of director Lysanne van Overbeek and designer Alisa Kalyanova's production seemed to deliberately leave the Tenniel images of the characters behind. And in an age when familiar characters can get reinvented in a variety of media, this was an understandable touch, encouraging us to see the opera as an entity in its own right.
The four Victorians, Elizabeth Roberts, Annie George, Joseph Buckmaster and Henry Grant Kerswell, who lead us into the opera, link the scenes and here change the settings, were all got up as tropical explorers; the other costumes were lively and colourful from Keel Watson's capacious green robe as the Caterpillar to Katy Thomson's alarmingly blue Cheshire Cat.
Lara Marie Muller made a very demure, poised Alice, unfazed by the craziness around her and with a firm hand under the charm. You felt she could perfectly well grow up into Mary Poppins, and she warmed hearts with her account of her big number.
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| Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Monica McGee, Lorena Paz Nieto- IF Opera (Photo: LAIMA) |
Keel Watson was a complete delight as the Blues-singing weed-smoking (we presume) Caterpillar, making the most of the character's moment. Lorena Paz Nieto combined virtuoso dazzle with charm as the Bottle, whilst bringing comedy, pathos and more coloratura to the Duchess obsessed by the letter 'H'. Dan D'Souza was an earnestly engaging White Rabbit, making him a charming yet unreliable guide. Emyr Wyn-Jones was the robust, well-meaning White Knight.
Dominick Felix had the time of his life as the Queen of Hearts, vividly demanding and full of colour, he twinned this with a low-key, sympathetic Dad. Rebecca Afonwy-Jones was a similarly sympathetic Mum, turning into a charmingly demented Hatter. Bethany Horak-Hallett and Joanna Harries had fund as the terrible red-headed twin Brats, turning into Tweedles Dum and Dee, the Queen of Hearts' enforcers.
Monica McGhee was a slightly low-key Humpty Dumpty, but made a great impression as the Dormouse with Alexey Gusev as a debonair March Hare. Katy Thomson simply oozed ingratiating charm as the Cheshire Cat.
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| Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Elizabeth Roberts, Joseph Buckmaster, Dan D'Souza, Henry Grant Kerswell, Annie George - IF Opera (Photo: LAIMA) |
In the pit, Mark Austin conducted the Bristol Ensemble in a lively and sympathetic account of the score, bringing out all the popular references and clearly having great fun. Though as we were sitting at the front of the auditorium (row C) the instruments were perhaps a little over-dominant in the mix.
I had worried that the show, which debuted in 2013 as an outdoor, promenade piece, might be too long at 80 minutes for children in the theatre. Perhaps there was some restlessness, but most around me seemed rapt, except for one young man who spent the entire opera with his fingers in his ears. You certainly cannot please everyone, but this engaging production went a long way to doing just that.
The company was giving a second, relaxed and BSL Interpreted performance later the same day.
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| Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Henry Grant Kerswell, Joseph Buckmaster, Elizabeth Roberts, Annie George, Lara Marie Muller - IF Opera (Photo: LAIMA) |
Alice also formed the focus of the company's schools programme, which took interactive performances and workshops into three primary schools and a school for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
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