Alice in Wonderland

My apologies for such a long time between this post and my last post.  It has been a very busy couple of weeks on account of the production of Alice in Wonderland of which I was a part.

Alice and the Arrows (held by kurogos)

This was my first theatrical production here in England, and I must say it did not disappoint! The directors of the show decided to take a new spin on this classic tale.  This show was to be performed entirely in Ultraviolet (UV) Light. This is also called black light to some folks.

The Blue Caterpillar. Hands courtesy of the kurogos.

I was cast as the Dodo, who runs the Caucus Race in the show. 
Because of the UV lighting, we were able to make use of kurogos, who dress in all black and look similar to ninjas.  These guys would do not only set changes, but would also play the part of inanimate objects that needed to move.  Because the room was completely blacked-out, the audience would see the UV object, but the kurogos became virtually invisible in the background.  It is my belief that the kurogos had the toughest job along with Brigitta, who placed Alice.  This is because they were in every scene, attended just about every rehearsal, and had to learn special choreography and movements.  All so they could, essentially, not be seen.  All guts and no glory.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Speaking of Alice, she gave a phenomenal performance as Alice. I don't know how she was able to do it, but when she got into character, it was if she had been sent back in time 8 years.  It was actually like seeing a young girl on stage.  Not only that, but the accent and pitch of the voice was simply wonderful.

The Cheshire Cat

Now, we were still getting the set and costumes put into place by the time we had our dress rehearsals.  I took photographs at this time, and though they look absolutely stunning, one must imagine how wonderful it looked when all was in place.  For instance, by the first performance there was a completely black floor and backdrop, and Alice sported a UV sensitive blond wig (she does have perfect Alice hair, but it simply didn't glow).

The White Rabbit with a flamingo (kurogo)

Mock Turtle, Griffin, and Lobsters.

Obviously I couldn't take photos of myself while onstage, but if any come up I'll post them. We had 5 shows, and all of them filled up 90% of the house. 

All in all, it was a stellar start to my theatre adventure here in the UK.