Wikipedia

User:4meter4/sandbox13

< User:4meter4

Alice in Wonderland (Le Gallienne and Friebus)

John Tenniel's illustration of the Queen of Hearts ordering Alice's beheading.

Alice in Wonderland is a play in two acts created by Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus that was adapted from Lewis Carroll's 1865 English children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. The play contains no original text and only uses dialogue found within Carroll's novels; with Le Gallienne and Friebus making cuts and reordering scenes from the two books to craft together a single stage work. The play also incorporates elements of musical theatre; containing original incidental music, dances, and songs composed by Richard Addinsell. The story's plot lacks a linear narrative and instead presents Alice's adventures within a series of vignettes. The play's major productions have all emphasized costumes, sets, and makeup that are meant to closely mirror the artwork of John Tenniel who illustrated both of Carroll's books in their original publications. As a result of both the plot structure and the emphasis on visual presentation, the work has been compared to a pageant. Some writers have also connected the piece to British pantomime.

Alice in Wonderland was first staged at the Civic Repertory Theatre in Manhattan in 1932; a production which transferred to Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre the following year. It was revived on Broadway in 1947 where it opened at the International Theatre before ending its run at the Majestic Theatre. It returned to Broadway in 1982-1983 for a revival at the Virginia Theatre directed by Le Gallienne. The latter production was an expensive flop and closed after a short run. A re-tooled version of this production was filmed for PBS's Great Performances under new direction by Kirk Browning and with cast changes that included the addition of several famous actors; among them Richard Burton whose daughter, Kate Burton, played Alice. The play was also adapted by Friebus for a 1955 television version broadcast on the Hallmark Hall of Fame in which Le Gallienne played the role of the White Queen; a part she also portrayed in all of the stage productions, including the 1982 revival when she was 83 years old.

Creation of Le Gallienne and Friebus's Alice and Wonderland

edit

Alice and Wonderland was created for the Civic Repertory Theatre (CRT);[1] an organization founded by Eva Le Gallienne in 1926 with the purposes of operating as a repertory theatre at affordable prices to the general public.[2] While the company only lasted until January 1933,[3] it made a mark on the history of American theatre, with The New York Times stating in 1991 that "[Le Gallienne] came closer than any other person to endowing the United States with a permanent company performing repertory in the manner of the Old Vic, the Comedie Francaise and the Moscow Art Theater.[4]

Prior to Alice and Wonderland, the CRT had previously adapted Peter Pan for the stage successfully, and Le Galliene wanted to create a second work in the company's repertoire that would appeal to families, with an eye towards making the piece attractive to adults and not just children. She selected Alice's Adventures in Wonderland specifically because she felt the book was "by no means primarily for children".[1] She proceeded to enlist actress Florida Friebus to assist her in adapting both this novel and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass for the CRT stage.[5] Joining them in this collaborative process was an artist new to design, Irene Sharaff, whose previous experience was as a fashion illustrator. This play was Sharaff's first work as a set and costume designer, and she went on to have a distinguished career which included winning the Academy Award for Best Costume Design five times.[6]

In constructing Alice and Wonderland, Le Gallienne and Friebus chose the scenes which they felt would best translate to the stage from Carroll's two Alice novels.[7] The resulting work dramatized the most famous scenes from these books, but abandoned a linear narrative in favor of presenting the story as a series of vignettes.[8] No new dialogue was added to the play, with every spoken word coming directly from Carroll' stories. However, the chronological sequence of the scenes were rearranged from the order they appear in Carroll's telling of Alice's adventures.[1]

 
The Walrus and the Carpenter speaking to the Oysters, as portrayed by Tenniel

Le Gallienne and Friebus believed that the character of Alice was essential to the forwarding of the plot's action, and for that reason they designed the play in such a way that the actress playing Alice would never leave the stage. In order to accomplish this, Sharaff employed a cyclorama design so that new sets and characters could be revolved to Alice without her ever leaving the audience's view.[1] Together, Sharaff and Le Gallienne constructed a background that was 400 yards long and was wound up within two giant drums that could roll. The backdrop could be unwound and move across the stage to change the scenery. Kinetic platforms were also created and were situated at the front of the stage. Cut outs within the scenery were made which allowed for both actors and puppets to weave through the set.[6] Marionettes were used for the The Walrus and the Carpenter scene.[9]

Le Gallienne and Friebus also wanted a play that used sets and costumes based closely on the illustrations by John Tenniel from Carroll's books in order to make the "book come alive" on the stage.[1] Sharaff fulfilled this purpose,[7][8] and her designs mirrored Tenniel's "down to the smallest prop".[1] Writing for the Museum of the City of New York, photographer Lissa Rivera stated that "The resulting product had a magical effect, as if the engravings had been conjured to life. Alice’s costumes and sets shifted seamlessly together, creating a world where drawings moved across the pages of a book on their own."[6]

In response to the play's construction, theatre critics, such as Brooks Atkinson and Frank Rich, have compared Le Gallienne and Friebus' work to a pageant.[10][11] Atkinson stated the following:

"Since Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Freibus have a wholesome respect for Alice in Wonderland they have committed no violence. Their stage transcription recaptures more of the innocent nonsense of the book than you would think possible. Inasmuch as the Oxford don wrote it for saucer-eyed reading rather than acting, do not blame the collaborators if they have not turned it precisely into a play. Rather have they related it in a frankly make-believe pageant of Tenniel scenes and Tenniel costumes to the wood notes wild of Richard Addinsell."[10]

While billed as a play, Alice and Wonderland adopted aspects of musical theatre with a score by Richard Addinsell that encompassed incidental music, dance music, and some songs.[8]

Plot

edit
 
Alice discovers the tiny door that leads into Wonderland's garden.

Act 1
As Alice, a seven-and-a-half years old girl, plays chess with her cat, Dinah, she describes her imaginations about a Looking-Glass House. The rooms in the house are similar to the ones in her home but appear backwards. She decides that she is going to make-believe that the entrance to her home is through the looking glass that hangs in her drawing room. As she tells of this imagined entrance, the real looking glass transforms into a portal and Alice goes through it into a different world, "Wonderland".

Upon Alice's arrival in Wonderland, she discovers a book and begins to read from it the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". She next observes The White Rabbit rushing along and complaining about being late. She unsuccessfully attempts to follow him and comes to a tiny door leading to a garden which she is unable to fit through. Beside this door there is a table with a key and a bottle labeled "Drink Me" sitting on top of it. Alice drink's from the bottle and begins to shrink; eventually reaching the correct height to go through the door. However, she forgot to grab the key from the table and cannot open it. Alice starts crying profusely in frustration and her tears create a large pool of water in which she starts swimming. In this pool she comes across the Mouse whom she asks for help in finding a way out of the pool. Once on land, the mouse decides to assist in drying them off by reciting the "driest thing I know".

Alice is introduced to the Lory, the Duck, and the Dodo by the Mouse, and the group proceeds to engage in nonsensical game called a caucus-race (a satire of political campaigns). After this ends, Alice wanders off by herself in Wonderland where she encounters a series of strange characters; among them the Caterpillar, the Frog-Footman, the Duchess, and a Cheshire Cat, the latter of whom appears and disappears at a whim. With each character Alice makes observations which compare the rules and customs of her world with this strange new world.

Alice arrives at a tea party where she meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse. From them she is informed about the foul-tempered and oppressive Queen of Hearts. After leaving this party, Alice meets the Queen of Hearts when she wanders into her garden. The queen bids Alice to join her in a game of croquet, but with live flamingos used as mallets. Alice plays poorly and the game ends rapidly. The Queen commands her courtier, the Gryphon, to introduce Alice to the Mock Turtle. The Mock Turtle begins a recitation of a grim life story but is interrupted by the White Rabbit who informs the court that a trial accusing the Knave of Hearts of theft is about to start.

A trial full of illogical arguments and outrageous antics ensues which confounds Alice. Frustrated, she interrupts the proceedings and denounces the trial as nonsense. The Queen of Hearts orders Alice's beheading as punishment.

Act 2
Alice runs and escapes the Queen of Heart's guards into a land shaped like a gigantic chessboard. There she meets another queen, the Red Queen, who advices Alice on traversing through the squares. She informs Alice that she will become a queen when she arrives at the eighth square on the board.

As Alice travels through the chessboard squares she encounters more strange characters; among them a railroad guard, the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the White Queen, The Sheep, Humpty Dumpty, and the White King. Upon reaching the eighth square she is crowned a co-regent with the Red and White Queens, and a banquet is held in Alice's honor. Alice becomes overwhelmed by the attention of Wonderland's characters at the party and proclaims she can take no more. Wonderland suddenly vanishes and Alice wakes up in her own home next to Dinah her cat. She realizes her adventure was only a dream.

Musical numbers by scene

edit

Taken from the liner notes of the 1947 Broadway cast recording.

 
Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Illustration by John Tenniel.

Act 1

  • Opening- "A Boat Beneath A Summer Sky" (sung by Ensemble)
  • Into the Looking Glass World- "Jabberwocky" (spoken to music by Alice)
  • The White Rabbit- incidental music
  • The Pool of Tears- incidental music
  • The Caucus Race- incidental music
  • The Caterpillar- "You Are Old, Father William" (spoken by Alice) / incidental music
  • The Footmen- "Speak roughly to your little boy" (sung by Duchess) / incidental music
  • The Cheshire Cat- incidental music
  • The Mad Hatter's Tea Party- incidental music
  • The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle- "Will you walk a little faster" (sung by the Mock Turtle), "Beautiful soup" (sung by the Mock Turtle)
  • The Trial- "They told me you had been to her" (sung by The White Rabbit and Ensemble) / incidental music for the "Collapse of the pack of cards"
 
Alice with the White Queen as drawn by Tenniel

Act 2

  • The Red Queen- incidental music
  • Running with the Red Queen- incidental music
  • The White Queen- incidental music
  • Humpty Dumpty- incidental music
  • The White Night- "A-sitting on a gate" (sung by the The White Knight)
  • The Red Queen and the White Queen- "Lullaby" (sung by the Red Queen)
  • Queen Alice- "To the looking-glass world" (sung by Ensemble)
  • The End of Looking Glass World- "A Boat Beneath A Summer Sky" (reprise, sung by Ensemble)

Performance history

edit

Civic Repertory Theatre/ New Amsterdam Theatre (1932-1933)

edit

Alice and Wonderland premiered at the Civic Repertory Theatre (CRT) on December 12, 1932[8] during the year marking the centenary of Lewis Carrol's birth (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).[9] The cast was led by Josephine Hutchinson as Alice.

Proceeds for certain performances of the original production went to the Public Education Association of the City of New York. Tickets for these performances were sold through subscription with several prominent Americans being advertised as subscribers; among them Eleanor Roosevelt.[12]

The original production had a significant influence on theatre in the United States, and is credited for inspiring a move towards the inclusion of children's theatre works within the repertoires of stock theatre and regional theatre companies throughout America.[13]

Adaptations

edit

Friebus adapted the play for the television program Hallmark Hall of Fame.[14] It aired on October 23, 1955.[15]

Characters and notable casts

edit
Characters
(in order of appearance) 		1932 Civic Repertory Theatre/
1933 Broadway 		1947 Broadway 1955 Hallmark Hall of Fame
(trimmed version of stage play) 		1982 Broadway 1983 PBS's Great Performances
(same sets and costumes as 1982 Broadway production)
Alice Josephine Hutchinson Bambi Linn Gillian Barber Kate Burton Kate Burton
White Rabbit Richard Waring William Windom (alternated with Julie Harris) Martyn Green Curt Dawson Austin Pendleton
Mouse Nelson Welch Henry Jones NA John Remme Nathan Lane
Dodo Joseph Kramm John Straub NA James Valentine Frantz Hall
Lory Walter Beck Angus Cairns NA John Miglietta David Gold
Eaglet Robert H. Gordon Arthur Keegan NA Rebecca Armen Mercedes Ellington
Crab Landon Herrick Don Allen NA NA NA
Duck Burgess Meredith Eli Wallach NA Nicholas Martin NA
Caterpillar Sayre Crawley Theodore Tenley Noel Leslie John Heffernan Fritz Weaver
Fish Footman Tonio Selwart Ed Woodhead Michael Enserro Geddeth Smith Kirby Tepper
Frog Footman Robert F. Ross Robert Rawlings Gilbert Mack Claude-Albert Saucier David Gold
Cook Howard Da Silva Don Allen Bernard Tone Richard Sterne Dirk Lumbard
Duchess Charles Ellis Raymond Greenleaf Bobby Clark Edward Zang Kaye Ballard
Cheshire Cat Florida Friebus Donald Keyes Burr Tillstrom Geddeth Smith Geoffrey Holder
Dormouse Burgess Meredith Don Allen Alice Pearce Nicholas Martin Dean Badolato
Mad Hatter Landon Herrick Richard Waring Mort Marshall MacIntyre Dixon André Gregory
March Hare Donald Cameron Arthur Keegan Robert Casper Josh Clark Zeljko Ivanek
Two of Spades David Marks Eli Wallach NA Geoff Garland Frantz Hall
Five of Spades Arthur Swenson Robert Rawlings NA Robert Ott Boyle David Gold
Seven of Spades Whitner Bissell John Straub Donald Keyes Steve Massa Bill Badolato
Queen of Hearts Joseph Schildkraut John C. Becher Ronald Long Brian Reddy Eve Arden
King of Hearts Harold Moulton Eugene Stuckmann Hiram Sherman Richard Woods James Coco
Gryphon Nelson Welch Jack Manning J. Pat O'Malley Edward Hibbert Swen Swenson
Mock Turtle Lester Scharff Angus Cairns Burr Tillstrom James Valentine Donald O'Connor
Knave of Hearts David Turk Fred Hunter Tom Bosley John Seidman Tony Cummings
Three of Clubs NS John Behney Kirby Tepper
Nine of Clubs NS Sgt. Thomas Grace NA
Red Queen Leona Roberts Margaret Webster Elsa Lanchester Mary Louise Wilson Colleen Dewhurst
Train Guard Robert H. Gordon John Straub NA Nicholas Martin NA
Goat Richard Waring Don Allen NA Claude-Albert Saucier NA
Horse Robert F. Ross (front)/ William S. Phillips (back) Will Davis (front) /Charles Townley (back) NA Josh Clark (front)/ Cliff Rakerd (back) NA
Beetle Florida Friebus Donald Keyes NA NA NA
Gnat Mary Sarton Cavada Humphrey NA NA NA
Gentle Voice Agnes McCarthy Angus Cairns NA NA NA
Tweedledum Landon Herrick Robert Rawlings Ian Martin Robert Ott Boyle André De Shields
Tweedledee Burgess Meredith Jack Manning Don Hanmer John Remme Alan Weeks
White Queen Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne Maureen Stapleton
The Sheep Margaret Love Theodore Tenley NA John Heffernan NA
Humpty Dumpty Walter Beck Henry Jones Karl Swenson Richard Woods Richard Woods
White Knight Howard Da Silva Philip Bourneuf Reginald Gardiner Curt Dawson Richard Burton
Old Frog Sayre Crawley NA NA Edward Hibbert NA
Shrill Voice Adelaide Finch NA NA NA NA
  • The cast also includes a chorus of playing cards in the Trial Scene; additional featured singers in the song "A Boat Beneath A Summer Sky" performed at the beginning and end; and puppeteers.
  • NA- Not applicable due to cuts or other alterations
  • NS- Not specified in the cast list. In the original production many of the card characters were not differentiated in the program and the performers were listed collectively as part of the ensemble; often with only surnames.

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f Nichols 2014, p. 42.
  2. ^ "REPERTORY WORK PLAN OF EVA LE GALLIENNE; Actress, Sailing for Europe, Says She Will Sponsor a People's Theatre Next Fall". The New York Times. May 27, 1926. p. 23.
  3. ^ "EVA LE GALLIENNE TO PLAY UPTOWN; Will Bring "Alice in Wonderland" to the New Amsterdam Theatre Jan. 30. TO FOUND SUBSIDY FUND Her Civic Repertory Company Will Return to Fourteenth Street House Next Season". The New York Times. January 19, 1933. p. 10.
  4. ^ "Eva Le Gallienne, Actress, Is Dead at 92". The New York Times. June 5, 1991. p. B6.
  5. ^ Nichols 2014, pp. 42–43.
  6. ^ a b c Rivera, Lissa (October 14, 2014). "Alice in Wonderland: La Gallienne's Living Pictures". Museum of the City of New York.
  7. ^ a b Brooks Atkinson (December 25, 1932). "Alice In Fourteenth Street". The New York Times. p. X1.
  8. ^ a b c d Dietz 2018, p. 243.
  9. ^ a b Nichols 2014, p. 45.
  10. ^ a b Brooks Atkinson (December 12, 1932). "Eva and Alice in Wonderland". The New York Times. p. 18.
  11. ^ Frank Rich (December 24, 1982). "STAGE: TENNIEL'S 'ALICE' AT THE VIRGINIA THEATER". The New York Times. p. C3.
  12. ^ "TWO PLAYS TO ASSIST PUBLIC SCHOOL GROUP; Education Association Takes Over Performances of "Firebird" and "Alice in Wonderland". The New York Times. November 29, 1932. p. 23.
  13. ^ Fisher 2021, p. 188.
  14. ^ "Alice in Wonderland and Noel Coward on TV". New York Daily News. Vol. 37, no. 103. October 24, 1955. p. 55.
  15. ^ J.G. (October 24, 1955). "Carroll's Fun and Nonsense Elude 'Alice in Wonderland'". The New York Times. p. 49.

Bibliography

edit

Periodicals

edit

Useful but not usable

edit


Maybe

edit

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bela_Lugosi_and_Boris_Karloff/hNtqmyR-MNMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22+Le+Gallienne%22+%22Alice+in+Wonderland%22&pg=PA338&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Broadway_Tails/5x3UDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22+Le+Gallienne%22+%22Alice+in+Wonderland%22&pg=PA62&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dictionary_of_Midwestern_Literature_Volu/ZnuYKJSoHCMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22+Le+Gallienne%22+%22Alice+in+Wonderland%22&pg=PA219&printsec=frontcover

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:4meter4/sandbox13&oldid=1304112877"