Monday, February 19, 2018

Alex and Alice in Wonderland


Sunday, February 11th, Frank and I took Alex to see a puppet stage show called DLUX Puppets' Alice in Wonderland. It was a true delight, less than an hour long, and Alex seemed to like it. There were only two actors, Alice and the puppeteer. The puppeteer Derek Lux designed, operated, and voiced all the creatively elaborate puppets: the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Caterpillar, and the Queen of Hearts. The presentation was very innovative using a digitally projected live virtual set that allowed Alice to fall down the rabbit hole, shrink and grow, and walk through the gardens of Wonderland.


Alex grinned and smiled and nodded his head as he sat in his seat before the show began.


The accompanying program was simple, a graphic of the Mad Hatter on the front and bios of the two performers within, husband and wife team Derek and Laura Lux. I was impressed with the range of singing and voices of the highly-talented puppeteer Derek Lux. His acting credits include playing the role of Donald Trump in San Francisco's famed Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest running musical revue in live theater history.


As Alex sat patiently awaiting the start of the show we reminded him of the Alice videos he watched over and over again! He has long been a fan of the TV series Adventures In Wonderland that ran from 1992 until 1994. We have watched these videos so many times I was surprised to learn that there were only three seasons' worth.


Appropriately Alex is wearing his shirt with the image of the White Rabbit on it. It was a Christmas present from us this year that arrived after Christmas. Whoops.

  
I think he caught on what the show was about as soon as the first puppet made its appearance. It was the White Rabbit, of course!


The parodies of popular music that accompanied the show were a real hoot:
  • Alice down the rabbit hole sings to I Get Around (by the Beach Boys)
    down, down, falling down, she's falling down
  • Tweedle Dum / Tweedle Dee sang Happy Together (by the Turtles)
    I think about you all the time, so we can rhyme
  • Alice sang to What's New Pussy Cat (by Tom Jones)
    what's up Cheshire Cat? Whoa-o-oh-o-oh-oh
  • The Queen of Hearts sang Dancing Queen (by Abba)
    I am the dancing queen, only slightly mean, pushing 70 

According to my internet research "Alice In Wonderland is said to be the most quoted book in print, second only to the Bible". If a fact is on the web, it must be true, right? Be that as it may, be sure to check out the YouTube video to DLUX Puppets' Alice in Wonderland. The show is home based in the Los Angeles area but it came north to the San Francisco Bay area and we were fortunate to get tickets. Watch for it. It is worth seeing. We had a blast!

3 comments:

  1. I think that Viv would love this production! I went to their website, but didn't find any information about shows outside of Livermore. I'll have to check again in the future, though. Glad you all had a fun time!

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  2. That looks amazing! Glad Alex had fun, and it gives me memories of Adventures in Wonderland too - I wonder if they'll put that on Disney's forthcoming streaming service when they get it up & running.

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  3. My elder sister made a drawing of me and Alice once and gave it to me on my birthday. It was beautiful and I still have it. It has always been my favorite series. This post just made me nostalgic. Her birthday is also around the corner and she is watching a lot of Andy Yeatman shows lately because of her kids. I can try making something relatable to that. She has always praised art.

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