SINGAPORE, Aug 2 — Unless you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, quirky characters such as the mysterious Cheshire cat, the evil Red Queen, the loopy Hatter and the wise Caterpillar who has a penchant for smoking should be all too familiar to you.
The beloved classic, based on Lewis Carroll’s novel, is staging four shows in Singapore next month — but with a slight twist.
The characters will all be speaking in Mandarin, for a change.
The musical has had a successful run in China, with more than 100 sold-out shows, and Biz Trends, which brought the musical to Singapore, hopes to see the same reception here.
“Alice in Wonderland is something that we all know since young,” said Keith Sim, Biz Trends’ spokesman.
But by incorporating the Chinese language into something so well-loved, it is something people will not expect, which makes it “refreshing and different”, he added.
The musical is a close adaptation of the original tale where Alice falls down a rabbit hole while following a white rabbit.
She then finds herself in a new land called the Underland and meets other characters in the midst of her adventure. She befriends them and goes on a magical journey to save them from the evil Red Queen.
The musical will feature 10 original songs, for instance, In a World of My Own, I’m Late and The Mad Tea Party, which will be performed by a cast of seven actors and actresses from Shanghai.
The group has performed some 200 shows in two years.
Besides the language, the musical will also incorporate the use of 3D technology, in the form of 3D animations flashed on a screen that actors will have to interact with on stage. One of them is the Cheshire cat.
Xie Xinyi, 25, who plays Alice, admitted it is not easy working with multimedia. “I cannot speak too fast or too slow. It has to be timed perfectly,” she said.
Huang Yunning, 22, who plays both the Red Queen and the Duchess, cites her dual role as the challenge she is faced with, given that both characters are a huge contrast from each other.
Pointing out that the Red Queen is “a malicious person” while the Duchess “has a heart of kindness”, she said: “I have to keep changing between the two roles, portraying a fiercer voice when I’m the Red Queen and a gentler voice when I’m the Duchess.”
For 23-year-old Yang Guoyu, who plays the Knave of Hearts, his difficulty was in the dance numbers as he was previously a science student with little dance experience, he shared.
So, “I practised a lot to match up to them (his fellow actors)” for this musical, he added.
Interestingly, the director, Canadian Suzannee Goyette, has chosen a young girl, 20-year-old Zhou Wenjia, to take on the role of the White Rabbit, which is traditionally seen as a frantic and seemingly elderly man.
Zhou said this gives the audience a nice surprise.
The performers say they try to give the show a different touch each time they perform it.
“We don’t go by the script usually. Sometimes, we add in a few lines of our own to make it more interesting and to give it a fresh outlook,” said Huang.
Sim says he is confident the shows will be successful.
“Coupled with 3D multimedia animation, it will bring out the magical effect of this whole production, which I am confident that families will enjoy.” — TODAY
* Catch the Alice in Wonderland musical at Resorts World Theatre, Resorts World Sentosa, on Sept 11 and 12. Ticket prices from S$38 (RM152.76) at Sistic.
