Alice In Wonderland | New York Times

ALICE IN WONDERLAND The adventures Lewis Carroll created for a certain little British girl have a way of playing with your head. As well as the Queen of Hearts’ constant orders to cut off that precious part, the story offers disorienting size changes, mind-boggling puns, odd manipulations of time and a psychedelic sensibility that’s more 1960s than 1860s. (Jefferson Airplane noticed.) Translating that celebratory chaos to the stage isn’t easy, but Literally Alive Children’s Theater’s musical “Alice in Wonderland,” by Brenda Bell (book and lyrics) and Michael Sgouros (score), plays its cards cleverly. Here the White Rabbit (Jonathan Rion Bethea) has a hip-hop as well as a hippety-hop attitude, and the Queen of Hearts isn’t just a royal battle-ax; she’s a drag queen too. Portrayed by Eric Fletcher, she belts out her calls for decapitation like a gospel-powered diva. Add to this a Dodo Bird (Jillian Prefach) with Fran Drescher’s affect and a caterpillar (Tyler A. Rebello) who tells Alice, “You’re killing my buzz, my dear,” and you know you’re not in Victorian England anymore. Preceded, like all Literally Alive productions, by an arts workshop — here to make hats worthy of the mad tea party — the show uses inventive props, video projections and tricks of perspective to evoke the journey. When Alice (the spirited Brianna Hurley, right) grows, a tiny door pops up from the stage floor to emphasize her largeness; when she shrinks, two enormous ones appear on the video screen behind her. Designed and directed by Christian Amato, with sumptuous costumes by Grace Trimble, this “Alice” dazzles the eye. And the ear. The all-percussion score, including a vibraphone, marimbas, a slide whistle and an udu, has as much world-music earthiness as it does lyric gentility. (If only it didn’t sometimes drown out the actors’ voices.) The Mad Hatter (Carolyn Purcell) and his mates frolic to a Caribbean beat, and the Caterpillar’s song, “Changing,” sounds like one of George Harrison’s Eastern-influenced experiments. Including much of Carroll’s sophisticated verbal gymnastics, this “Alice” will appeal most to children over 7. But in Wonderland you don’t have to comprehend completely — just surrender to the madness. (Saturday, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.; workshops one hour before; Players Theater, 115 Macdougal Street, at Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, 212-352-3101, aliceinthevillage.com; $25 to $40, except for the 3 p.m. on Saturday, a benefit including cocktails, mocktails and treats during the workshop and an afterparty with the cast. Benefit: $75; $50 for the first child; $25 for additional children and to all using the discount code PTFAM.) LAUREL GRAEBER