Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011) is a full-evening story ballet adapted from Alice in Wonderland, with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon and music by Jody Talbot. The ballet was co-produced by the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, both of which have staged their own productions. It is scheduled to debut in the USA in late 2012, when the NBC plans to tour with it, and will also be aired live in movie theatres for one performance in 2013. Opus Arte released Alice on DVD in 2011.

In the original version, Act I opens with a garden party at the Liddell household, where an adolescent Alice gives one of the young gardeners, Jack, a tart. However, Mrs. Liddell accuses Jack of stealing the tart and fires him, much to Alice's dismay. The party itself includes such local notables as a Rajah, the vicar, the verger, a magician, and Lewis Carroll. When Carroll asks Alice to pose for a photograph, the lighting changes, Carroll's photography bag expands, and Carroll turns into the White Rabbit. Alice falls through the photography bag and winds up in Wonderland. Among other adventures, she encounters Wonderland's version of Jack, the Knave, who is on the run from the Queen of Hearts.

Act II is set at the Court. Besides playing croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs, Alice sees the Knave again. But he is soon arrested and put on trial. Although he and Alice eventually manage to convince almost everyone in the court of his innocence, thanks to The Power of Love, the Queen of Hearts tries to execute him herself. Alice manages to knock over the entire Court before waking up in the twenty-first century, suggesting that this may have been a Dream Within a Dream.

The revised 2012 staging breaks the evening into three acts. Act I now incorporates more dancing for Alice and the Knave, and ends right before Alice's encounter with the Cheshire Cat. The DVD preserves the two-act version.

Tropes used in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland include:
  • Abhorrent Admirer: The Duchess to the Caterpillar.
  • Affectionate Parody: A lot.
    • The Queen's Jam Tart Adagio parodies the Rose Adagio from Sleeping Beauty.
    • There are multiple references to The Nutcracker, including the dance of the flowers that ends Act I (or II, depending on the version). The White Rabbit is also closer to Drosselmeier than to Carroll's original.
    • The final arabesque pose in George Balanchine's Apollo appears in the middle of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
  • All There in the Manual: The synopsis clarifies where the ballet deviates from the original, especially in the trial sequence (where Alice tries to take the blame on herself).
  • And You Were There: All of the Wonderland characters appear as their Victorian equivalents in the garden party prologue.
  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: The Mad Hatter's contributions to the Funny Background Events in the courtroom sequence.
  • Author Avatar: In-universe, Lewis Carroll becomes the White Rabbit.
  • Axe Crazy: The Queen of Hearts and the Cook.
  • Billing Displacement: From the promotional materials and Opus Arte's DVD trailer, you'd think that the Mad Hatter was a much bigger role. If this were a musical, he'd qualify as Minor Character, Major Song.
  • The Cast Showoff: The Mad Hatter taps because Wheeldon wanted to take advantage of the original dancer's skill.
  • Character Tic:
    • The Dormouse dozes off, even in the middle of a dance step.
    • The Caterpillar rubs his chin.
    • The White Rabbit scratches his neck or leg.
    • The Queen of Hearts makes throat-slashing gestures.
    • The Mad Hatter spins his hat.
    • The Cook caresses her meat cleaver.
  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • Clock King: The White Rabbit.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: It's Wonderland, so that's the hat. Still, the King of Hearts and the Mad Hatter distinguish themselves by being especially out to lunch.
  • Color Coded for Your Convenience: The Frog and Fish Footmen, who are indistinguishable otherwise.
  • Coming of Age Story: The adolescent Alice discovers romantic love.
  • Costume Porn: In particular, the Duchess' Pimped-Out Dress, the Cards' tutus, and the Mad Hatter's embroidered pink-and-green suit.
  • Courtroom Antics: And how!
  • Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: The Mad Hatter's eye makeup is a little alarming in this respect.
    • The Cook has an even worse case.
  • Crosscast Role: The Duchess is intended for a male actor.
    • When the NBC first staged the ballet, they cast a female dancer as the Dormouse.
  • Disney Villain Death: The Queen of Hearts.
  • Distant Finale: Alice wakes up in the twenty-first century, along with her boyfriend Jack. There's also a familiar-looking man taking photographs.
  • Down the Photographer's Bag
  • The Drag Along: The Dormouse, often literally.
  • Dream Within a Dream: So the Distant Finale suggests, although Alice can't help wondering if she recognizes that photographer.
  • Follow the White Rabbit
  • Funny Background Event: Unlike the classic story ballets, where the corps and mime characters sit quietly watching the other dancers go through their variations, there's a lot of comical action taking place in the background during the courtroom sequence. The King, the Mad Hatter, and the Cook are most notable in this regard, although the Queen's reactions to the testimony are also very funny.
  • God Save Us From the Queen
  • Gorn: "Pig and Pepper," especially in the original version. It's the ballet's only real example of Grimmification.
  • He Went That Way!: To throw the Queen off at one point during the chase sequence.
  • Henpecked Husband: The King of Hearts, who is even pecked by a flamingo at one point.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: The Mad Hatter and the March Hare are very demonstrative with each other, quite sweetly so in the final act.
  • Hope Spot: After the pas de deux for Alice and the Knave during the trial, everyone is converted to their side. They're safe, right? Time to bring on the Axe Crazy.
  • Hotblooded Sideburns: The March Hare and his Victorian counterpart, the Vicar.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man
  • Lighter and Softer: According to Word of God. Even the creepier characters, like the Duchess and the Mad Hatter, have warmed up by the end of the ballet.
  • The Mad Hatter
  • Magic Mushroom
  • Mr. Fanservice: The Caterpillar. In-universe, too, given how the Queen and the characters in the witness box react.
  • Nervous Wreck: The White Rabbit, of course.
  • No Indoor Taps: If the King of Hearts' response to the Mad Hatter's tap-danced testimony is any indication.
  • Off with His Head
  • Only Sane Man: Alice, the Knave, and the White Rabbit.
  • Out-of-Genre Experience: The tap-dancing Mad Hatter.
  • Post-Kiss Catatonia: The King tries to induce this in the Queen during the chase, but it only works for a couple of seconds.
  • The Power of Love: How Alice and the Knave manage to win everyone to their side.
  • Puppy Love: Alice and Jack/The Knave.
  • Rube Goldberg Device: The domino effect Alice sets off at the end of the chase sequence.
  • Sleepyhead: The Dormouse and his Victorian counterpart, the Verger, although the King of Hearts could also use several cups of espresso.
  • A Spot of Tea: Although only the March Hare seems to get any.
  • Time Stands Still: Happens for a few seconds during the Tea Party.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: This may be part of the joke in the Queen's Jam Tart Adagio, depending on the casting.
  • True Companions: After the trial, everyone joins up with Alice and the Knave to save them from the Queen of Hearts.
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