I AM MY OWN INVENTION: The Wonderland "Good for You" Thread

otay, saw it last night. WOW. Has Rupert and Ellis made some HUGE changes...and all for the better. Now a story that makes sense, now lyrics tweaked to fit the pastiche score into the narrative, now the principals FACE EACH OTHER as they act in scenes...gone is awkward "SUNDAY IN THE PARK" book launch of modern characters as frames, now Karen Mason's dual characters make sense, now the connection of the "lost" Alice to her childhood self and her real child work....

Funny lines, good topical references, i'm sure it will get even better as they tweak. Proof POSITIVE the right show docs can turn it around, even in eight days or whatever they had in studio. Design still great, projections great, fine costuming, i love the orchestrations, and the cast continues to sing its collective face off. Kate Shindle MAJOR improvement in that rewritten role, only her connection to Alice's "selves" not quite clear or resolved well yet, but when she is LOOKING like that, and SINGING like that (i swear she belts to like a G), and ACTING so well we can wait until they finish her arc better before opening. Rupert i think is the real hero here, but hard to tell with no direct crediting listed as of yet. Can they really be "just ghosting" it?

Darren Ritchie remains strong-voiced and a great actor, and all support roles truly shining now....

TAKE A TRIP DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE AND SEE FOR YOURSELF. i predict you'll lose your heart before your head...

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i liked it too... not perfect... but kinda ADORABLE...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/03/wonderland-first-preview-thoughts.html

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just noticed this credit on the website:

Additional dialog by Phoebe Hwang

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Some facts for you:

Phoebe Hwang wrote the original story & script, and was credited as book back from 2007ish til just before Tampa's world premiere began. She was replaced because she took up another Wildhorn show, Tears of Heaven which just debuted in South Korea (with an English concept album).

I wouldn't be surprised if Gregory Boyd has it in his contract to keep his name fully attached from the start, considering he was replaced last minute for the Broadway production of Jekyll & HYDE (which pushed the show back a year). Jack Murphy continues to write the lyrics as far as I know, just gave up the book duties. Some of the new lyrics are however, atrocious.


I think a lot of the Dacal dislike comes from the fact that she's generally a rookie carrying a show that has no star power anyway. It's a role that will make her or break her, in my opinion. Her predescers in the readings and workshops were Brandi Burkhardt (A Tale of Two Cities) and the lovely Lauren Kennedy (who starred in Wildhorn's "Waiting for the Moon" .. the F Scott Fitzgerald show you mentioned).

I still also don't know if this is a sarcastic thread or not, but oh well!

Zelda's book was by Jack Murphy & Vincent Marini, who was the director of Lenape Valley PAC, which is pretty much defunct now only to concert and occasional regional performances. Murphy did the lyrics. Marini & Murphy have also workshopped their new piece there, which is still in the works - The Seduction of Shelia Valentine, with Book, Music & Lyrics by Murphy, and Book & additional lyrics by Marini. Linda Eder starred as the lead. That show suffered a lot of book problems, but the jazz score really shined with Wildhorn's talents. Kennedy and Emmick gave wonderful performances to boot.

I don't see Phoebe's name anywhere, maybe it's not somewhere I'd look?

Brandi Burkhardt was formerly engaged to Wildhorn. She starred as Emma in Jekyll & HYDE: Resurrection, and did countless workshops, readings, concerts & demos. She starred in "A Tale of Two Cities" on Broadway back in '08, then did Mamma Mia! in 2009 but hasn't been up to much New York theatre lately. Very talented!

People work in weird things in their contracts. Perhaps TBPAC/the original producers didn't want to surprise the Tampa audiences too much since they billed this past year's production & advertised as "This is what you will see on Broadway".. which is entirely untrue. It's nothing like either version of the show I'd seen previously. I don't know the story behind that.

The new lyrics are so child-ishly done changing a phrase or two every now & then, or just awkward lyrics. They don't seem that Jack Murphy to me, so who knows if he's since left the production. I saw Frank, the orchestrator, and some of the Tampa producers in the theatre the other night, but no Gregory Boyd & no Jack Murphy.

The Civil War had music by Frank Wildhorn, and then the trio split the "book" and lyrics, which was a Tony-nominated score. Doesn't seem like a good score at first, but when you listen to it and realize all the work they did to get to those lyrics... it really is incredible!


I am still a big fan of the show... been following it for years now! But this current version just isn't very good, but they have a month... hopefully things will change.

Last I heard Frank's webmaster is no longer his webmaster -- nothing has been updated since December 2010! From the looks of it, that's true as Bonnie & Clyde's 2nd production still trumps the homepage.

Jack Murphy's website hasn't been updated in a while either, but thats' a different webmaster as well.

oh yeah and the only place i got to see F Scott/Zelda was at that small regional in NJ, where i think the title was then WAITING FOR THE MOON;;;my suggestion to the team was to consider using CLOTHES FOR THE SUMMER HOTEL (Williams) as their libretto with appopriate rights, and plug the songs into it....it was very similar to the libretto as it existed then. Murphy had never read it. One of my favorite "unknown" Tenn plays.

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