It’s a musical with roots in history.
Alice, Formerly of Wonderland is the story of a secret romance between Alice Lidell, the inspiration for the “Alice In Wonderland” character, and Prince Leopold, the son of Queen Victoria.
"It's got a few dark corners for a rom-com," said playwright Mark Saltzman, who wrote the musical. "It's definitely a romance...a romance set to music. I try to avoid the labels."
Saltzman talks about how he developed the idea for the new musical. It’s world premiering this weekend at the Ensemble Theater Company’s New Vic Theater.
"I read everything about Lewis Carroll. I never knew about Alice having a romance with a royal. During the endless coverage of the courtship of Harry and Meghan, someone spoke about other royal romances," said Saltzman. "Leopold had a romance with Alice...the original Alice, and I thought what? Before I knew it, I was falling down a rabbit hole."
Saltzman is a musical veteran, but not in the way you might think. He spent more than a decade with Sesame Street, creating sketches and music for the award winning show.
Saltzman says Sesame Street was the hardest thing he ever did, because you had to create sketches which were educational and entertaining for kids, but also hit home with adults.
Alice, Formerly of Wonderland uses the history of the real-life Alice story as a starting place, but Saltzman said takes some liberties.
"That's what historical fiction really is. It was Shakespeare having some fun with Henry V, you know," laughed Saltzman. "You take the historical figures, and do what's plausible. The historians want to have hard evidence to put it in a history book, but the dramatists are able to enter this world we call historical fiction, and create, and imagine."
Alice, Formerly of Wonderland has a Friday night preview, and officially world premieres Saturday night. The Ensemble Theater Company production runs through June 16 at the New Vic Theater.
