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Stage REVIEW Characters shine in Rust Belt’s dark ‘Alice’
By LORRAINE WARDLE
YOUNGSTOWN
Take a well-loved but curious tale, add beautiful original music, amazing costumes, and some of the area’s most talented performers and what do you get?
A gorgeous sounding, visually stunning production called “Alice: A Curious Musical.”
The latest production at the Rust Belt Theater Company, “Alice” is adapted from the works of Lewis Carroll. For this latest endeavor, writer-director Robert Dennick Joki borrowed from both “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” and put his own spin on the classic stories.
The stories are essentially the same. A curious girl falls down a hole and wanders though a strange new “wonderland” encountering many odd and off-putting characters. But that’s where the similarities end.
Joki’s tale is a bit darker and more mature than Carroll’s. Joki’s Alice seems older than Carroll’s and more preoccupied with growing up. Themes of budding sexuality and a loss of innocence pervade the production.
The music, by Joki and Josh Taylor, was full and sumptuous. The fast-paced songs were lively and fun while the slow-paced songs were moody and emotional.
Marisa Zamary’s choreography perfectly complemented the music. Zamary’s creativity shines throughout the production, particularly in “Move Down,” a new “cup song” for the mad tea-party.
Grace Offerdahl was a classic Alice, a bit naive but very curious. Offerdahl has a natural stage presence and a lovely singing voice.
Hunter Thomas’ White Rabbit seemed to be all-knowing and was perhaps even pulling the strings in this adventure.
Kage Coven played an uber-cool Cheshire Cat and Celena Pollock Coven’s Duchess was both frightening and funny.
As the Cook, Beth Farrow’s “Pepper in the Pot” was one of the best songs in the show. Farrow sang the fast-paced, tongue-tying song like a pro, with a humorous speech impediment.
Bernadette Lim’s Caterpillar was chill and trippy and Geri Dewitt’s Pigeon was frantic and hilarious.
Marisa Zamary played an awesome Mad Hatter, calm and collected, but quite crazy. In contrast, Eric Lewis’ March Hare was high-strung and twitchy.
Katie Morris was an adorable Dormouse and later impressed with an astonishing hula-hoop routine as a lobster in a pot. Rachel Clifford and Nick Lyras played a delightfully creepy Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Katherine Skaggs and Jayden Byrne were strong performers as a set of cards, as well as other parts throughout the show.
Nicole Zayas was a formidable Queen of Hearts, belting “Off with Their Heads” in her powerful voice. Lynn Sabeh and Eric Kibler impressed as the Griffin and the Mock Turtle, respectively in “Beautiful Soup” which showcased their beautiful operatic voices. David Cirelli played a war ravaged Humpty-Dumpty, and sang a somber “Jabberwocky.”
The production was enhanced with artwork by local artist Courtney Bouchie and striking, inventive costumes created by Joki and Farrow.