Alice in Wonderland Jr

Having encountered the Young Australian Broadway Chorus before, I was keen to see another production, and it was amazing! Once again it showcased a young, energetic cast with tight choreography and strong singing.

The feature that particularly impressed me was the wealth of spectacular costumes. It seemed that no sooner had the ensemble gone off stage at the end of one frenetic number, than they were back on in a completely different costume for another.

We had three Alices, tall, medium and small, mirroring Alice’s changes in size in the story, and they looked remarkably similar. At each change there was a puff of smoke and blackout, which was effective. Emily Palmer did most of the heavy lifting as the main Alice, and was a strong credible lead with a fine voice. Emilia Miller-Wilson was the tall Alice and Dijana Razumic, on her knees, was the small Alice. Both did well.

As a constant chorus, we had three Cheshire Cats, Madeleine Stacey, Bella Portillo and Lizzie Stotak. Their costumes kept changing with the lighting and they moved as one. Youngsters Nicholas Dugdale and Alex Glenk were very funny as Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Opening the proceedings was Sam Rowe as the Mad Hatter, an engaging personality, while Lachlan Wolters was a frenetic White Rabbit. Madelaine Horsey was suitably over the top as the Queen of Hearts.

The sound was generally good, though some characters came in before the applause had died down, so lines were missed. There was some lovely harmony singing from the ensemble and the audience loved it.

Graham Ford

Images: Emily Palmer, Afia Adjei, and Madeleine Horsey, Emily Palmer & Ryan Etlis.