Slipping into the pages of a favourite novel feels like getting a warm embrace from a friend. But when Alice tries to stop time, and the progression of her best friend’s illness, by going down the rabbit hole once more, she realizes that a good deal about her, and her friend, has changed. Alice By Heart is a heartbreaking musical, directed by Caitlyn Grant, about love, loss, and growing up.

Set during the Blitz in World War II, Alice By Heart introduces us to Alice Spencer and her childhood friend Alfred Hallam. They find themselves in a bunker with a host of other orphans, disgraced soldiers, and doctors. Alfred’s received a grave diagnosis, so in an effort to help him get better, Alice begins to read to him their favourite story from their childhoods, “Alice in Wonderland.” As they travel down the rabbit hole, with Alice guiding them from memory, she starts to notice that there are some differences in Wonderland now that she’s older. Despite her best efforts, time continues to slip away while Alfred tries to help Alice come to terms with his fate. With music by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater, and the book by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson, it’s easy to see why this moving piece of theatre is produced time and time again.

While we spend a good deal of the story in Wonderland, there are so many moments when reality breaks through. When you first enter the theatre, you can hear the planes and bombs going off overhead, and these rumblings continue to bring Alice back to reality throughout the play. It acts as a constant reminder that despite our best efforts, we cannot fully escape our reality and eventually we must come to terms with it, or else reality will inevitably find us.

Montserrat Cadena’s set design was simple and meaningful; the posters covering the walls were full of warnings and war propaganda, visually placing us within the time period. The simple benches and tables were then able to be manipulated to create all of the locales required to tell the story. Cameron Ashley’s costume designs allowed us to differentiate the characters in Wonderland from their British counterparts, while also keeping with familiar colour palettes and styles.

Alice By Heart features a live band on stage to provide the musical accompaniment. Lead by Hannah Huang-Semeniuk, the band features seven musicians: Tomas Peña, Olivia Van Alebeek, Artem Rybenstev, Yabo Li, Crystal Chong, Ren Strzelczyk, and Sophia Franc. Having live music rather than a recoding adds such a different atmosphere to the production, and thankfully the sound was balanced quite well with the music. It was unfortunate that one of the actress’ mic’s went out within the first few minutes of the show and wasn’t able to be fixed; you could tell she was singing her heart out, but without the extra boost she was lost in the music. Soroosh Kahnemuyipour is the vocal coach on the production, and their hard world certainly paid off as the vocalists all gave impressive performances.

Jasmine Haughey and Luca McPhee are the shining stars of this production as Alice and Alfred. Their chemistry together is fantastic, and individually they both give fantastic performances. Haughey’s vulnerability and earnestness make her Alice loveable and relatable. McPhee’s charm radiates throughout their performance. I have to give a huge kudos to choreographer Gabby Noga: firstly for their choreography for the production which was entrancing, but also for stepping into the role of Tabitha/Cheshire Cat on opening night. I can’t imagine that it was easy to do, and yet she gave a delightful performance. Talfryn Quiring and Luka Lars-Nova make a zany mad tea party, and yet their British counterparts are heartbreaking. Tega Aror and Justus Alexander, the Queen and King of Hearts, are a fearsome royal couple. Angelli McGuigan and Rhys Parker both have great comedic timing which they brought especially to their Wonderland roles. Rounding out the cast are the adorable Daniela Monaco and Zander Van Nynatten as Young Alice and Alfred.

Alice By Heart will certainly touch your heart. With only three performances left to catch this production, you’ll want to make sure to get your tickets ASAP. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.thaumatropetheatre.com/alice-by-heart

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Cover photo: The Cast of Alice By Heart. Photo by Chris Anderson

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