"All in the golden afternoon, full leisurely we glide," wrote Lewis Carroll, as preface to his immortal children's story, "Alice in Wonderland." But it won't be on a summer afternoon, rather on a winter evening, when "Alice" glides into the Capitol Theatre, propelled by Ballet West.
Utahns may revel in the Victorian charms of this childhood classic, set as a ballet by Ben Stevenson, artistic director of Houston Ballet, at 10 performances at the Capitol Theatre. Shows will be nightly at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, 11, 13-18, with matinees on Saturdays, Feb. 11 and 18. Note the addition of performances on Monday and Tuesday, coinciding with Valentine's Day.Hiller Huhn, who works closely with Stevenson as assistant artistic director of Houston Ballet, has been in Salt Lake City setting "Alice in Wonderland" upon Ballet West. Stevenson will be here next week to polish the work. Both men have worked with the Houston company for 20 years.
Stevenson, whose "Cinderella" was seen here in 1992, is a prolific choreographer, with many full-length ballets to his credit, including "Peer Gynt," "Don Quixote" and his own versions of such major classics as "Swan Lake," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Giselle." There are also many shorter ballets, "and hundreds of pas de deux," said Huhn.
"Alice's fantastic dream, after she falls asleep on a summer afternoon, takes her to a surrealistic land where she meets many strange creatures, comic and satiric," he said. "She follows the White Rabbit, barely escapes from the Duchess' kitchen, encounters the Cheshire Cat, joins the Mad Hatter's tea party, dances on the seashore with many strange creatures, enjoys the Queen of Hearts' rose garden, and finally is summoned to the courtroom for the famous trial to determine who stole the Queen's tarts."
Among other beloved and familiar characters in the ballet are the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the March Hare, the diminutive King of Hearts, the frog footmen and the four animals who dance with Alice - the Unicorn, Ram, Lion and Zebra.
"Ben, as the Tiger Lily, and the gardener dance a pas de deux. There's the corps of dancing butterflies, a dance of roses for the girls, a big lobster quadrille including mock turtles, and a procession before the trial," said Huhn.
Besides dancing, Alice reads the lines of some favorite passages aloud, including the introduction, "You are old, Father William," and "Will you walk a little faster? said a whiting to a snail." Ballet West's Alices will be Jennifer Demko, Erin Leedom and Jane Wood, in alternation.
Costumes and sets for "Alice in Wonderland," on loan from Houston Ballet, were designed by Nadine Baylis, inspired by Sir John Tenniel's original sketches in the first edition of the book. Many characters must wear masks - a challenge because of their stuffiness and limiting of vision, said Huhn.
Lewis Carroll was the pen name for the Rev. Charles Dodgson, who led a dual life of sorts. For half a century he resided at Christ Church, a college of Oxford University, where he taught boring lessons in mathematics. He stammered, and seldom preached.
"He was a fussy, prim, fastidious, cranky, kind, gentle bachelor," wrote Martin Gardner, "(who said,) `My life is so strangely free from all trial and trouble, that I cannot doubt my own happiness is one of the talents entrusted to me, to occupy myself by doing something to make other lives happy, till the Master shall return.' "
What made Carroll happy, and comprised his second life, was the company of little girls - little boys being too noisy and unpredictable. This was, from all reports, an innocent and pure admiration, and nowhere stronger than in the delight he found in association with little Alice Liddell, the daughter of his dean at Oxford. In her company and that of her sisters, and with many other little girls, he relaxed and entertained with his hobbies - puppetry, magic tricks, paper folding, photography, games and puzzles. He loved opera and the theater and was a lifelong friend of actress Ellen Terry.
Upon Carroll's whimsical and comical writings has been laid the burden of satire and of casting historical and political characters in comic dress. Some allusions seem almost inescapable, such as interpreting his unicorn and lion as Disraeli and Gladstone. But the more those personalities recede into history, the more people see "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" as madcap childhood adventures, interesting in and of themselves.
Stevenson first set "Alice" upon the children of Houston Ballet's academy, during the late '70s. He was influenced toward the project by the appealing score of Britain's Joseph Horovitz, a work dating to 1953, when it was commissioned by Sir Anton Dolin for the London Festival Ballet. This score the adult company uses almost intact, with few adjustments and additions. It will be performed by the Utah Chamber Orchestra, with Terence Kern conducting.
Huhn was born in New Orleans and studied in New York. He first signed on professionally with Royal Winnipeg Ballet for four years, then joined the Washington National Ballet when Ben Stevenson and Frederic Franklin were co-directors.
Huhn has been with Stevenson ever since the Washington days, including a year at Harkness Ballet. He has traveled about setting a good many Stevenson ballets, which are in brisk demand by such as the Canadian, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Ballets and Ballet Arizona.
He confessed to being nervous about setting "Alice" for the first time, "from scratch." "I have video tapes and notes, and I know the choreography, but I underestimated the talents of Ballet West dancers, who have been fabulous in the studio, wonderful to work with," he said. "Dancers live a hard life, they put in long hours, but the constant repetition enables them to get up and just do it when the time comes. As Freddy Franklin used to say, `It will be all right on the night!' "
Tickets for "Alice in Wonderland," ranging from $9-$45, are now on sale at the Capitol Theatre box office, 50 W. 200 South, or call 355-2787; or at Albertson's ArtTix outlets. The production will tour to Odgen's Browning Center Feb. 20-21. For ticket information, call the Odgen Symphony Ballet Association, 801-399-9214.
- THE SALT LAKE BALLET GUILD will sponsor an "Alice" symposium on Thursday, Feb. 9, in the Capitol Theatre, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Artistic director John Hart and choreographer Ben Stevenson will speak, costumed characters will attend and refreshments will be served, followed by a portion of the dress rehearsal. The public is welcome, $2 admission, $1 children.
The Ballet Guild will also sponsor Mad Hatter Tea Parties immediately following matinees of Feb. 11 and 18, in the theater lobby. Tickets are $5, available before, at intermission and after those performances.