Blank Canvas Theatre’s ‘Alice By Heart’ is fantastical

In September of 1940 the German Luftwaffe were on the verge of losing what became known as the Battle of Britain. In order to draw the RAF (Royal Air Force) Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation the German air fleets were ordered to concentrate their bombing attacks solely on London. For the following 56 out of 57 days and nights systematic bombing runs were unleashed on the London population. In order to survive the onslaught the population of London retreated into the London Underground Train System which proved far out of reach but not out of sound of the German bombs.

The sheltered citizens were buoyed by entertaining piped in broadcasts of the BBC which featured music, comedy and dramatic radio plays. These shows were interspersed with encouraging talks by Winston Churchill and other members of the government. Against terrible circumstances, the population of London hunkered down to wait out the attacks. In the musical “Alice By Heart”, now on stage at Blank Canvas Theatre, a mixed collection of ten souls find themselves sharing a small sleeping area far underground. The musical features music by Duncan Sheik with lyrics by Steven Sater and book by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson. The show is deftly directed by Pierre Brault.

Alice Spencer (Raina Thiegs) and her best friend Alfred Hallam (Gabriel J. Hill) have had their lives totally disrupted by the war. Although coming from well to do families they are now orphaned and living below ground. Alfred is suffering from tuberculosis and is under quarantine. Alice refuses to accept Alfred’s dyer fate and urges him to escape with her “down the rabbit hole to Wonderland”. As Alice reads to her terminally ill friend, Nurse Cross (Jennifer Myor) finds them together and rips up the book as punishment for breaking quarantine. Alice becomes defiant and declaring that she in fact knows the book by heart begins to recite it.

Suddenly, all of the inhabitants of the dank subterranean home take on the characters of the beloved children’s fantasy. Alfred becomes the White Rabbit, Nurse Cross becomes the Queen of Hearts, Harold Pudding (Benson Anderson), the shell shocked soldier, becomes the Mad Hatter, Tabatha (Evie Long) becomes the Cheshire Cat, Dodgy (Bryce Daniel Cook becomes the Duchess, Clarissa (Madeline Golya), a bit spoiled young girl becomes the Queen of Diamonds, Nigel (Peter Seidl), a young boy still in his school uniform, becomes Dormouse, Angus (Devon) a Black worker becomes the Caterpillar and Dr. Butridge (Dan Zalevsky) becomes the King of Hearts and the Jabberwocky.

As war rages overhead the characters from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” come to life as various scenes unfold with musical numbers. While of good memory, Alice changes parts of the original story adding more to White Rabbit’s part and ignoring Chapter 3. Encouraged by two caterpillars she and Alfred smoke a hookah pipe and get high. Alice receives life advice from the Cheshire Cat, dances the Lobster Quadrille, is yelled at by the Duchess for growing up too fast and plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts.

One note of interest is the costuming. At the offset everyone is dressed in period appropriate war time garb. As they transform into the Wonderland characters their outfits are constructed completely of pages of books donated from the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank of already damaged, missing pages or marked beyond repair tomes.

As for the actors, they are fantastic. Raina Thiegs as Alice has a fine singing voice and acting chops as well. Equal to the task is Gabriel J. Hill as Alfred/White Rabbit who in spite of a errant sleeping cot carried on. Jennifer Myor as Nurse Cross/Queen of Hearts is a force of nature in her role. Benson Anderson as Harold Pudding/Mad Hatter carries the “mad” role quite well without overdoing it. Evie Long as Tabatha/Cheshire Cat bestows wisdom of the ages. Bryce Daniel Cook as Dodgy/Duchess is an absolute hoot. Devon as Angus/Caterpillar wraps himself comfortably into the roll and takes us all along for a nice smoke filled ride. Dan Zalevsky as Dr. Butridge/King of Hearts/Jabberwocky is the hardest working actor of the group and does well in each roll.

The set designed by Patrick Ciamacco (who also designed the lighting, projection and sound) closely resembles a war era underground complete with signage. Kenny Lear is the musical director coaxing quality sound from his small group of six musicians. Jailyn Sherell Harris does a superb job with the choreography considering the tiny space the cast works in.

If you relish a bit of reality meets fantasy this is definitely a show to put on your calendar. It is a pleasant evening of light musical theater that will help chase the rainy blues away.

The Blank Canvas Theatre’s production of “Alice By Heart” will be on stage at 78th Street Studios located at 1305 78th Street, Suite 211 through May 17, 2025. For more information go to http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com or call (440) 941-0458.