What a huge, bumbling, horrifying mess.
In his complete overhaul of the book (which seems to have made an even bigger mess of things,) Rupert Holmes goes for a self-deprecating and pop culture savvy tone that is completely at odds with everything else on stage. As others have said, with the exception of Kate Shindle, none of the actors embrace the camp quality of the material, and it makes it all only look even worse.
The narrative inconsistencies are far too bountiful to name. From what I understand, Alice used to be a writer struggling with balancing her career and her family, which at least made sense on a few levels- it gives you a reason as to why her marriage has failed, establishes a significant problem in her relationship with her daughter, and gives her something to "learn" in her journey. In this new version, she's a middle school teacher who has put her dream of being a writer on the back-burner. There isn't even an attempt to explain the problems with her family life until the final scene, so you're left completely confused from the get go as to why she has anything at stake. Her character arc is completely non-existent.
I won't even get started on the score. Beyond the sound levels being completely off to an almost inaudible degree, there's not one tuneful number to be had. Wildhorn's attempts at shoe-horning in songs from every possible musical genre are blatantly obvious, and he continues his trend of writing bland, non-specific numbers that have no textual basis within the story he's trying to tell. The opening number on the demo recording, "Worst Day of My Life," sounded upbeat, high energy, and fun, but it's been re-tooled to be sung as a soft lullaby by the daughter on her bed about how her parent's divorce is affecting her. If Alice is our main character, why are we spending so much time right out of the gate learning about her daughter's problems instead of her own? It's interspersed with a lot of weird dialogue cuts, and it starts the show off at a deathly slow pace from which it never recovers.
I agree with those who are saying that Janet Dacal doesn't really have "it," but she's in the midst of such a huge disaster that she's not even close to being part of the problem. The staging (if possible) is even worse than the book. Who thought it was a good idea to have the big effect where Alice actually descends to Wonderland involve her simply standing in an archway and swaying from side to side? Are you kidding me? For those that are curious, they've also overhauled the look of Alice from the previous versions. The hideous dress Dacal is wearing in all the press shots is gone, and she now sports an over-sized top cinched at the waste with a belt, along with leather pants (or tights? I couldn't tell) and boots.
I can't see this lasting at all. The audience's confusion and dismay was quite palpable. Just a jarring failure in every possible way.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 3/22/11 at 12:49 AM
