Project Wonderland Tosses Lewis Carroll Down the Rabbit Hole to Meet His Own Creations
Bootleg Theater (2220 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057)
- Full Price:
- $25.00
- Our Price:
- $12.50*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Project Wonderland have expired.
The last date listed for Project Wonderland was Saturday February 13, 2010 / 8:00pm.
Currently at Bootleg Theater:
Bio-Play Buddha: A Fantastic Journey
- Full Price:
- $30.00
- Our Price:
- SOLD OUT
Writer-performer Evan Brenner stars in this bio-play, Buddha: A Fantastic Journey, directed by Tony- and Oscar-nominated stage and film actor John C. Reilly. The show tells the life story of the man we know as Buddha, who lived in Northern India around 500 B.C. and introduced the teaching known as Buddhism. Derived from ancient Buddhist sources, the script illuminates this religious icon's life in insightful ways. It makes for a great adventure story that conveys the evolution of his thought, his triumphs, and the rarely portrayed tragedy at the end of his life. Learn More
Goldstar Member Tips
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Nicholson N. on What to Wear
Casual
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Nicholson N. on Where to Eat
Bar is open with beer and wine
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Daniel Duling on Where to Park
There's free, designated parking in a lot across the street and a few feet down the block.
Goldstar Member Reviews
Frances C.
What a surprising find on Beverly Blvd!Written on Feb 05 2010
This was a very clever production with WONDERFUL Actors... all of whom were completely engaging and as many reviewers have observed, committed to this show and loved what they were doing.
A couple of songs were a little iffy... but it wasn't hard to overlook considering everything else that really worked in this play. Costuming was ridiculous (in a good way), staging was definitely creative and some flat-out hilarious.
Great crowd for a Thursday night, overall, it was a fun night and inexpensive thanks to Goldstar!
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Nicholson N.
If you like Alice in Wonderland, then you'll like this show. If you don't you won't. They follow the book pretty closely - and the 'Lewis Caroll' angle is just a bookend for the show.Written on Jan 17 2010
The Show is 1hour and 40 mins. It slows down a bit toward the end. Mad Hatter is a bit long (even though the acting was good) and the Mock Turtle scene drags a bit. I would have prefered a 2 hour show with an intermission to be honest. That would have broken up the action.
The puppets were decent. Would have liked to have seen the Cheshire cat a it more. The 'shadow puppets' for the scenes were put to good use. The acting was pretty good - the actors obviously enjoy the material. Costume were good - time and effort put into it. Except perhaps to the hookah references the show is kid friendly. Some good dancing. :)
Most of the dialouge is from the book - even the cheesy puns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_x97iRNfzo&feature=related
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Vi Hoyer
I am 92 years old and having my young assistant type this review for me. We showed up last night at the Bootleg Theatre early and still had trouble with parking. There is also a great deal of construction going on right on Beverly Blvd, so make sure you plan extra time for spot scavenging (or take a taxi).Written on Jan 29 2010
Despite its lack of curb appeal, this theatre is really nice--it's spacious and deep and was the perfect space for this wild production.
My first impression of the show was that it didn't at all fit in with my previous conceptions of Alice in Wonderland, but my imagination accommodated quickly and became very engaged in the adaptation. Robert Prior cast the diminutive and delightful Lon Haber as Lewis "Charles" Carroll, who smokes some hashish and BECOMES Alice in his wicked hallucination through Wonderland. His acting is so wonderful and specific that I sometimes totally forgot what was under his little blue dress!
The piece is staged with live musicians performing original music on the side, fantastic costumes and puppetry (although we were disappointed in the rather trite Cheshire Cat). The acting and singing was excellent.
We met the director Robert who is a lovely and brilliant guy.
This is an unusual and absolutely wonderful show I plan on seeing a second time!
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Will
“Project Wonderland” is a fantastic small theater adaptation of the “Alice in Wonderland” story. The costumes and puppets of the assorted loony characters and those depicting Alice’s transformations were amazing and hilarious creations. The actors exuded wild energy, clearly demonstrating enjoyment of their work. I especially enjoyed the performances of Matthew Davis as the wild Mad Hatter, Jessica Hanna as the ever late White Rabbit (complete with rhythmically sniffing whiskers) and Michael Bonnabel as the cool Caterpillar. The set designs were colorful and ingenious in creating Alice’s crazy dream world.Written on Jan 31 2010
Parking is across Beverly (look for the little sign on Beverly across from the theater); walking past the giant construction machinery in the middle of Beverly was prep for the weirdness I was about to see.
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More Information About Project Wonderland
Website
Description
Bootleg is proud to announce Project Wonderland, a phantasmagorical evocation of Lewis Carroll's hallucinatory classic, Alice in Wonderland. Visionary director and adaptor Robert Prior is making his Bootleg debut with this expanded exploration of a piece that has had many incarnations and was originally developed by his company, Fabulous Monsters.
In this production, for the first time, Prior integrates a full musical score, original choreography and puppetry. He joins forces with renaissance man Ken Roht, who will be choreographing dances specific to Project Wonderland. Indira Stefanianna, a part of Project Wonderland from the beginning, has created an entirely original score. Also on board is the brilliant puppet artist Lynn Jeffries (Shadow puppets in Rogue Artists’ The Gogol Project and Set Design for Cornerstone’s Someday, both at Bootleg); for the first time Project Wonderland will have the puppets it deserves. Teresa Shea, a many time collaborator of Mr. Prior, takes on the Herculean task of designing and building both the costumes and the set. Rounding out the design team is Brandon Baruch on lighting design (99¢ Only Calendar Girl Competition and Wildboy ’74 with Bootleg) and John Ballinger on sound design (Ovation nominated Co-Composer of 99¢ Only Calendar Girl Competition.)
Project Wonderland is an homage to the mystery, power and beauty of a strange literary masterpiece and a tribute to its author, the enigmatic Reverend Charles Dodgson, better known to the world through his nom de plume, Lewis Carroll.
In its action, the Reverend is transformed during a vision quest into his own creation, Alice, and thrown down his own rabbit hole to confront the bizarre characters of his own psyche. Working in close proximity to the text, Project Wonderland creates a bizarrely outrageous dream-like- ever-morphing carnival of wonder, mystery, grotesquery and mischief. A celebration of the theater’s potential for magic and the potency of the storyteller’s art.
Cast includes: Michael Bonnabel, Matt Davis, Shar Gabriel, Lon Haber, Jessica Hanna, Lucie McGrane, Henry McMillan, Lori Scarlett, Raul Staggs, Daniele Watts, Silvie Zamora, Jabez Zuniga.
Bootleg is a space for art. A place where Los Angeles artists of all mediums can come together and create new, exciting theatrical events. In this 1930’s warehouse (formerly a bra factory), we have been producing theater since 2000. We produce brave, boundary-pushing, artistically outstanding new work. Work that is exciting to many different kinds of people, serving as a reflection of the city we live in.
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ROBERT PRIOR: Playwright, Director, and Designer Robert Prior creates multi-disciplinary theater works inspired by world mythology and literature. He has a lifetime's fascination with Asian Theater, most notably reflected in his piece RAMAYANA 2K, a contemporary re-telling of the ancient Hindu myth, incorporating traditional and electronic music, dance and acrobatics. Ramayana 2k won several LA Weekly awards and toured to La MaMa in New York where it received five Drama Desk nominations. In preparing for that piece Robert and choreographer Stephen Hues traveled extensively in East Asia. Fifteen years ago Robert founded Fabulous Monsters Performance Group and has created over twenty pieces with them, including adaptations of the Gilgamesh myth, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland and the aforementioned Ramayana. The early work of the company was concerned with gender roles and the relationship of contemporary "drag" performance with ancient trans-gendered shamanism. His most recent work was SHADOWDANCE IN TOYLAND which integrated shadow puppetry in telling fairy tales. He also directed a major revival of the musical HAIR in Toronto. In addition to Peony Pavilion he is currently at work on a production of MEDEA to take place in the fall of 2010 in a cave outside Athens.
Project Wonderland will be produced for Bootleg by Alicia Hoge-Adams, Corbett Barklie and Jessica Hanna, the producers of last year’s 99¢ Only Calendar Girl Competition and Stranger.