Alice In WonderSLand Review- Avatar Repertory Theater Lanai Jarrico Reporting...

Staff Reporter • Thursday, May 13, 2010

On Saturday May 8, 2010. I was invited to attend “Alice in WonderSland”, a production put together in SL by the Avatar Repertory Theater.
It's definitely a MUST SEE from start to finish for those into the performing arts. Everything from receiving my ticket, falling down a rabbit hole and feeling like I was seated at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, til it was all said and done. I was at the edge of my seat. It was well put together perfectly and the cast delivered a fantastic performance that captured my imagination. Despite having a griefer show up, That only meant, this crew is doing something right. 




After Receiving my ticket and NC of instructions, I teleported to the entrance where I was greeted by Art Usher JadaBright Pond. I handed him my ticket and was lead to a giant wooden door.
Intrigued I teleporting to a dark shadowy domed room . A spotlight was shining against a worn black and white checkered floor with seating for the audience built right into the scene.

The first scene started in the woods where Alice begins her wondrous adventure. She spots a white rabbit and curiously follows him into his hole where she falls for what feels like an eternity, landing at the bottom looking at many doors. One being very small...

I grew up surrounded by music and the arts in all sorts of mediums. My father is an accomplished artist who also plays many different instruments, so naturally I'm drawn to creativity of all kinds.
Ever since I was a little girl, I remembered Alice in Wonderland as one of my favorite plays next to The Nutcracker. There's something about this story that fascinating me. How a girl experiences all these different personalities and and riddles. She still manages to stay calm and determined to find a way back to where she came from. In many ways it's kind of how SL is to me except I meet more then one Mad Hatter a day.

Growing up, I've went to local plays, checked out a little bit of Shakespeare at DeSales University and even got to hang out with the cast of an off Broadway play called “Wanda's World” in New York City. Standing on the balcony on the 42nd floor of a penthouse overlooking 5th Avenue was even more breathtaking since I'm afraid of heights. Anyways, When I was invited to see the Alice in WonderSLand in SL. I was excited and ended up amazed at what I saw.

Taking photos like a tourist and crashing every two minutes . I was surely a hot mess but I got some great shots during an after of the cast and I walked away from this experience feeling like I just stepped out of Radio City Music Hall. This time as a kid at heart.

What was cool is after the performance, the cast lined up on the Set and did some Q's and A's where I found out some interesting facts from behind the scenes.

The pre rehearsals for Alice in WonderSLand began a year ago. They also informed us that Avatar Repertory Theater is starting a community group so avies can get Audition & Rehearsal information.

In the play, Alice is depicted as a seventeen year old girl in her original brown hair from the novel and looks nothing like the commercial blonde haired, blue eyed Alice in the Disney version.

Another cool thing they thought up was to have 2 Alices on standby in case one crashed so the play can go on which it did when Alice actually crashed.


What impressed me about the cast is they even handled a griefing well and for the audience it was a second chance to experience falling down the rabbit hole again.

I have to say, that was an awesome part when the entire audience fell and landed right into the next scene. Luckily I had a tight grip on my recorder because during the trip down, I got to collect some comments from the other audience members who seemed to be enjoying their experience on the way down.


[16:07] Filthy Fluno: omg!

[16:07] florenze Kerensky: a swarm of avatars?

[16:08] SammyO Landar: we are falling

[16:08] florenze Kerensky: or flock?

[16:08] Aisling Sinclair: a gaggle? (art Usher)

[16:08] Savanna Miles: awesome!

[16:08] Lila Corith: weeeeee

[16:08] Lanai Jarrico: this is neat!

[16:08] Timmy Madrigal: hee, this is fun!

[16:08] SammyO Landar: is this part of the show?

[16:08] Dionysus Clowes: wheeee

[16:08] Aisling Sinclair: this must be the rabbit hole! (Art Usher)

[16:08] SammyO Landar laughs wow

[16:08] Dionysus Clowes: or the sim has closed

[16:08] Neal Herriat: fantastic

[16:09] Filthy Fluno: reaches for his emergency alert bracelet

[16:09] SammyO Landar: i think we are falling down the hole see all the dirt?

[16:09] Timmy Madrigal: ha

[16:09] SammyO Landar: wow. too cool

[16:09] Filthy Fluno: how the hell did they do that to us?

[16:09] Aisling Sinclair brushes herself off (art usher)

[16:09] Filthy Fluno: amazing

[16:09] Filthy Fluno: brushes aisling off

[16:09] SammyO Landar: brilliant

[16:11] Neal Herriat: its wonderful

[16:11] jimbolimbo Oval: this was worth the money.. lmao

[16:11] Lanai Jarrico: totally this is great.

[16:11] Prokofy Neva: It's a cool idea to have the audience go down the rabbit hole

[16:11] Neal Herriat: its a brave new world

[16:11] Timmy Madrigal: awesome lets do the rabbit hole again!!!

THEN WE GOT GRIEFED AND DURING THE RESET THE AUDIENCE STARTED TALKING

[16:11] Filthy Fluno: i hope this means we get to fall down the hole again.

[16:12] Troy McLuhan: the wonkiness of SL makes it all the more wonderland-y

[16:12] Prokofy Neva: can we go down the rabbit hole again?

[16:12] Timmy Madrigal: lets do the rabbit hole again!!!

[16:12] Aisling Sinclair: i'm all for that! (Art Usher)

[16:12] Neal Herriat: good thing I brought this little hip flask

[16:12] Prokofy Neva: yeah let's start up at the beginning.

[16:12] JadaBright Pond snacks on a rice cake while we waits (must stay trim for this costume )- (Art Usher)

[16:12] Angell Fairport: *passes a huge tub of popcorn around*

[16:12] SammyO Landar: be careful eating any sort of cake lol

[16:13] Neal Herriat: oh....right!

[16:13] JadaBright Pond: please stay seated (Art Usher)

[16:13] Aisling Sinclair: or drinking anything...you never know...

[16:13] JadaBright Pond: Sammy ...I KNOW ...I have read this story !



One Audience members reviews after the Performance.

“ My avatar name is Savanna Miles. Even though I've been in SL for over three years, Saturday's show was the first I have attended and I did not know what to expect. The show was interactive and fun. The original storyline was interesting and left me smiling. Even though griefers caused some challenges for the thespians, overall, I enjoyed it very much.  Alice in WonderSland may have been my first SL show of that kind but it will not be my last. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to express my opinion.”

 

~Savanna Miles



If you want to find out more about Alice in WonderSland, you will have to experience it yourself!

Performance Information:

Press Release: Alice in WonderSLand Performances


Friday May 14, 11PM PSTSaturday May 15, 10AM PST
Sunday May 16, 4PM PST
(Subtitled performance for hearing impaired)



Tickets are L$500, available for purchase on XStreet from April 20.
Your ticket will contain extra information regarding venue, etc.

The audience will be immersed into WonderSLand, where they will see magical places bloom around them, with a panoramic view of the scenes built by JubJub Forder and his talented crew.
Visit the White Rabbit's house, enjoy a Tea Party with the Mad Hatter, Dormouse and March Hare, attend a Croquet game hosted by the Queen of Hearts, and witness the trial of the Knave of Hearts in a courtroom where rules are meant to be broken.


Theater presented in a virtual world such as this gives the designers, costumers, builders and actors the opportunity to present entertainment that would be impossible in real life. Our imagination drives those dreams, and we invite you to come play with us in WonderSLand. Avatar designer Ada Radius promises your experience to be "surreal comedy on the edge of a nightmare", and costume designer Rowan Shamroy is creating a dark look to echo the original Tenniel illustrations, based on the clothing of late Victorian England.
The production, directed by MadameThespian Underhill, features Mickie Nikolaidis and Elegia Underwood alternating the role of Alice, with (in order of appearance) Persephone Phoenix, Sodovan Torok, Joff Fassnacht, Em Jannings, AvaJean Westland, Rowan Shamroy, Kayden Oconnell, Thundergas Menges, Dolgoruky Umarov, Ada Radius, Lailu Loon, Corwyn Allen and JudyArx Scribe. The production team, led by AvaJean Westland, includes JubJub Forder, Ada Radius, Rowan Shamroy, Thundergas Menges, Sodovan Torok, Prospero Frobozz, Elegia Underhill, CodeWarrior Carling, Amon Dragonash, Kayden Oconnell, and Mickie Nikolaidis.


To purchase tickets, visit: http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php? name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2271204 (Be sure the purchase the ticket for the date you want!)

To be added to our mailing list, please contact Kayden Oconnell or Ada Radius.
You can also learn more about Avatar Repertory Theater by visiting our website at http://www.avreptheater.com or our blog at avatarrepertorytheater.blogspot.com