This wildly entertaining adaptation of the famous Lewis Carroll book is an extraordinary mix of commercial showbiz and ballet.
Brilliantly put together by The Australian Ballet in a production where everyone from the orchestra pit to the dancers on stage are clearly having fun, the only sad thing for Sydney is that its run at the Capitol Theatre is so short.
It only runs until March 5 – so our advice is storm the box office now! And if that fails, go and see it in Melbourne.
The Cheshire cat, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts chasing her tarts – you know the story, but this ballet production has a wonderfully fresh take on it all.
The sets are clever in taking you down the rabbit hole and into another dimension that even AI would never be able to figure out.
The Cast
Sharni Spencer plays Alice in what must be a gruelling but captivating dance. The rest of the cast are a delight, with Brett Chynoweth playing Lewis Carroll and the White Rabbit.
If you want to relive some of the mayhem of the show, here’s a snatch of the synopsis Carroll fans will recognise: “Three gardeners are painting the Queen’s rosebushes red after mistakenly planting white roses which the Queen loathes.
“The Queen arrives and sees their error ordering the gardeners executed. The Duchess and the Queen play a game of croquet with flamingos for mallets and hedgehogs for balls. The Queen accuses the Duchess of cheating and orders her to be executed.
“The Knave is discovered and brought to court to face trial. As wonderland’s inhabitants give their evidence, the court descends into mayhem, and Alice makes an impassioned speech admitting she stole the tarts, and that the Knave is innocent. The Queen is unmoved and seizes an axe, chasing Alice and the Knave.”
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You know how the story ends – and if you don’t, I’m not going to issue a spoiler alert.
We heartily commend this ballet show as one to watch for fun, and to marvel that such a historic story can be brought to life in spectacular fashion.
Dress up – most of the audience at the night we went did!
Capitol Theatre until March 5.
Brilliant show!