Generations
of children grew up with Disney’s animated feature version of Alice in Wonderland and I admit that
this particular film disturbed me a lot since the
story was basically Alice ’s dream that was almost a nightmare. So when Repertory Philippines chose to stage the Jim Eiler and Jeanne Bargy version of this
timeless tale by Lewis Carroll, my interest was piqued and I was, allow me to
say, got curioser to experience Alice in Wonderland once again but now
with an adult perspective.
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| Daniella Ganna and the company |
I am
not a morning person so it took a lot of effort for me to go over to Greenbelt 1 ’s
Onstage to catch the press preview. But I’m extremely glad that I did since I
was able to see Daniella Ganna, who was absolutely wonderful (forgive the pun)
as Alice . Childlike in demeanor and
in movement, Daniella shone in her portrayal of Alice who gets lost in a
strange yet wonderful world encountering unusual characters along the way. But
I think the early hour of the performance made it difficult for her to shift to
her falsetto register.
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| Daniella Ganna |
One
of the memorable characters Alice
encounters is the Queen of Hearts played by the impeccable Bituin Escalante. Intimidating
presence matched with imposing vocals made Bituin’s Queen of Hearts such a great
foil to the confused Alice of Daniella. Another notable character was the
Rabbit portrayed by Nacho Tambunting. Nacho’s dancing background was put into
very good use as he was nimble and light footed in his role as the perennially
late, and therefore, agitated Rabbit.
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| Onyl Torres and Daniella Ganna |
A
scene that probably took a lot of time to rehearse was the tea party that
featured Joel Trinidad as the Mad Hatter, Chino Veguillas as the Dormouse and James
Stacey as the March Hare who tested Alice ’s
patience. The three characters did a good job in their roles since I got
annoyed with them and I wondered how Alice
managed to tolerate these three. I would’ve trashed the tea party and stormed
out if I were there.
With
the exception of Daniella and Nacho, all of the other cast members portrayed
multiple roles which probably made the dressing room very busy throughout the
musical. I’d also like to commend the cast with multiple roles since they were
able to make each character different and distinct as if they were portrayed by
different actors.
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| James Stacey, Chino Veguillas, Joel Trinidad and Daniella Ganna |
Alice in Wonderland is my second time
to watch a REP Theater for Young Audiences production and it was only now that
I finally got to realize certain elements that director Joy Virata likes to incorporate
in these productions for children. One, she likes to put in interactive parts
which isn’t originally part of the script. This gives a chance for the kids in
the audience to have an active part in the production and she said that they
respond positively well to this. And yes, there were enthusiastic kids (and
kids at heart) during the press preview who gamely participated in the Cheshire
Cat’s I’m Mad, You’re Mad sing along with
matching arm actions to boot portion of the show. Another element that Virata
likes to include is a specialized dancer. In Alice in Wonderland, she had a ballerina play the part of the
butterfly. I can imagine how mesmerized young girls in the audience were seeing
a ballerina in pointe shoes gliding
weightlessly onstage. In last year’s production of Wizard of Oz, there were acrobats instead of ballet dancers.
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| Daniella Ganna |
REP’s
Children’s Theater productions may not have the meat like Next Fall (which
remains a favorite), but they offer great entertainment that can be enjoyed by
the whole family. Alice in Wonderland
will run up to December 15, 2013
at Onstage in Greenbelt 1 .
