Musical Monday: Alice by Heart

Spoiler warning: The following review contains some spoilers for Alice by Heart, which closed Off Broadway on April 7th. You’ve been warned. 

I will admit that I am much more familiar with Alice in Wonderland the Disney movie than I am the original novel. Even that I haven’t seen in years and am more familiar with Alice in Wonderland as a cultural staple (and the iconic characters) than I am with most of the actual plot. I say this to say that anyone seeing Alice by Heart should definitely quickly read the Playbill insert reminding them who some of the characters are because otherwise I can’t imagine how confusing the play would be. Alice by Heart, though not confusing, is a play with an interesting premise that definitely hits some high points but tries to do a bit too much and feels like it had some real missed opportunities.

Alice by Heart is a show about Alice and her friends in a bomb shelter during what we presume to be World War II in England. Alfred, Alice’s closest friend and romantic interest is dying from tuberculosis, and she wants to read to him from their favorite book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When the angry nurse tears her book up, she says its ok because she knows the story by heart (hence the play name.) As we delve into the story the children in the bomb shelter become the characters in the story. Alfred, who is running out of time, becomes the White Rabbit, who is running out of time. Alice becomes Alice. The mean horrible nurse becomes the Red Queen. The story doesn’t play out like she remembers it because Alice must deal with the consequences of growing up and how not everything happens like it does in the stories we love.

The musical had a lot to like about it. Duncan Sheik’s music is really fun, though I will say it really dealt with themes of sexual awakening and was very apparent throughout that Mr. Sheik was the writer. It made me want to listen to Spring Awakening. I was also really pleased with Molly Gordon, who played Alice. Her British accent was admittedly the weakest part of her performance as it went in and out some, but her acting was strong, voice stronger, and emotional range perhaps strongest of all. Also, the musical hit its stride when there were times where Alice wasn’t really sure whether she was in the story or not. The blend of the horrors of war with the fantasy of Wonderland lent itself to some really interesting visuals.

The problem I think I had with the play is for all of that interesting blend of war and fantasy there was a much larger emphasis on the romance between Alfred and Alice. Alice was dealing with growing up—including some songs that were very obvious about her noticing her budding sexuality—and she was dealing with losing someone she loved. The romance didn’t work for me. The chemistry wasn’t amazing, and I found the parts dealing with it the least compelling parts of the show. By insisting on the romance and continually highlighting it as the important driving force, the show felt a lot messier and less consistent than it would’ve been otherwise. I felt really disappointed in the show not sustaining what I did think were some interesting high points.

There is a musical somewhere in this show that is a girl turning to a book to run away from growing away, the horrors of war, and life broadly not because of losing a love interest but because growing up is scary and war is scarier. That is a really interesting concept that I support. Alice by Heart put too much emphasis on a romance that didn’t work, and it suffered some as a result.