Disney's Alice in Wonderland jr.

Three humorous and brightly played Cheshire Cats (Fay Slater, Rachel Miller and Jess Gibson) were ‘narrators’ for Lewis Carroll’s enchanting tale of a young girl’s imaginative dream, given a Disney sparkle. The well known plot was the spark for a colourful evening’s entertainment produced by Gateshead AODS Juniors in the Dryden Centre. Most people know the story of ‘Alice’ and the intricacies of growing large and shrinking on stage were overcome by having three individuals playing the title role from big to small, namely Rebecca Mayer, Tara Bolden and Kate Sowerby. Each girl was very pleasant and tuneful in their own particular scenes, and each managed to give the collective impression of a single entity of Alice, such was their chemistry together. What caused Alice to enter the rabbit hole was the ‘very late’ White Rabbit played with great charisma and much energy by Harry Sanderson – one to watch for the future.

A very special, confusing but ultimately funny scene was where Alice met and introduced herself to Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee (Annie Corbett and Olivia Inness – or was it the other way around?) The scene made all the more pleasing because of the rapid dialogue between the characters. Along her journey Alice had an Un-Birthday party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare (George Baldwin and Max Bolden) as well as meeting a group of ‘flowers’ whose disparaging remarks to the small Alice were very reminiscent of the ‘Mean Girls’ in the film of the same name.
Whilst small, Alice also first met ‘Caterpillar’ (Rachel Mayer) whose infectious enthusiasm and hip hop rap styled version of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” was a scene stealer.  As Alice’s dream progressed she met up with the thoroughly unlikable Queen of Hearts (Amy Beckford) and her husband, the King of Hearts, subserviently played by Tarn Cain alongside a succession of playing cards as they all joined in with Alice in the game ‘Simon Says’ in which Alice excelled, further enraging the Queen and leading to a surreal trial and ultimately Alice’s return to reality.

The production was supported by assorted chorus, Lobsters, Door Knobs as well as Alice’s Aunt Mathilda – Kirstie Hall. The musical, although very short, allowed the whole youthful cast to shine alongside catchy lyrics and rhythms, colourful costumes and practical sets with many individual characterisations of note.  Congratulations to Director Ann Chadwick, MD Judith Pankhirst and the cast for bringing the story to life. A special mention also to young Ross Norman who graduated from being part of the cast last year to Society Accompanist this year – well done to all.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.