|
''Alice in Wonderland'' is a musical pantomime by Henry Savile Clark (1841–1893;〔Other works by Savile Clarke include ''An Adamless Eden!'' and ''The Rose and the Ring''〕 book and lyrics), Walter Slaughter (music) and Aubrey Hopwood (lyrics),〔Hopwood was a son of John Turner Hopwood. See Henry Robert Addison, Charles Henry Oakes, William John Lawson and Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen (eds.) ("Hopkinson-Hornby" ), 'Who's Who'', Vol. 57, 1905, p. 795, A & C Black, accessed 12 July 2011〕 based on his books ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass''.〔"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 24 October 1886, p. 3〕 The piece, billed as "A musical dream play in two acts", achieved considerable popularity. At Carroll's request, Slaughter retained the old tunes in the parodies such as "Bonny Dundee".〔"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 12 December 1886, p. 6〕 The pantomime opened on 23 December 1886 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. Phoebe Carlo played Alice. ''The Theatre'' wrote in its review,〔''The Theatre'', London, 1 January 1887, pp. 48–50〕 "''Alice in Wonderland'' will not appeal to the children alone. ... Mr. Savile Clark has done wonders. ... The play is beautifully mounted, and splendidly acted, Miss Phœbe Carlo being very successful as the little heroine... she played in a delightful and thoroughly artistic fashion, and in this respect she was closely followed by a tiny mite, Miss Dorothy D'Alcort, who plays first the Dormouse. ... Mr. Edgar Bruce, Mr. Walter Slaughter (who has written some charming music for the piece), and Mr. Savile Clark, all deserve unstinted praise."〔("Footlight Notes, No. 371" ). Information about the 1886 production, including photos, a programme and a review from ''The Theatre'', 1 January 1887, pp. 48-50〕 The piece was frequently revived over the next four decades. ==Synopsis== Act I, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", is in two scenes: "A Forest in Autumn" and "A Glade in Wonderland".〔 Act II, "Through the Looking Glass", consists of four scenes: "Through the Looking Glass"; "The Garden of Live Flowers"; "A Sea-Shore"; and "The Banqueting Hall – The Forest Again."〔 A review in ''The Theatre'' summarised the story as follows: :The story runs glibly, opening with a chorus of fairies surrounding Alice asleep in a chair beneath a tree, from there we progress splendidly, making a new acquaintance with all our old friends, the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the duchess with her Baby, the Cook with her reckless use of pepper, the Cheshire Cat with his remarkable smile, the Hatter, the Hare, and the Dormouse, who have their perpetual tea party, and treat Alice to conundrums and unconventional rudeness. Then comes a long and brilliant procession, which should fill Alice's heart with awe, if not with admiration, but our heroine is nothing daunted by this large crowd. "Why, they're only a pack of cards," she says, "I needn't be afraid of them?" and so she answers the sanguinary-minded queen of Hearts, in a reckless manner, and refuses to see heads knocked off in such profusion. She then dances with the Cards in a graceful gavotte, and afterwards protects her old friend, the Cheshire Cat, from an undeserved execution. The Gryphon and Mock Turtle then appear, and Alice receives some hints as to a sea education, and the first act of the dream play for children ends with the trial of the Knave of Hearts for eating the tarts, in which Alice's verdict of acquittal is unanimously passed. :In the second act, Mr. Savile Clarke takes us to another book, ''Through the Looking-Glass'', and Alice is introduced to the chessmen and Chorus, who dance stiffly for her delectation, then the Red Queen gives her some advice after she has spoken to the live flowers, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee appear. She soon makes friends with these massive twins, and pleads hard when they determine to have a mortal combat, but all to no purpose, and so after she has witnessed the greedy Carpenter and Walrus devour their daily portion of oysters, she assists in arming Tweedledum and Tweedledee for the fray. The arrival of a Crow sends the warriors to speedy flight, and Humpty Dumpty appears on his wall, and so the play goes on until we see Alice once more asleep in her chair, and hear her wake to say, "Oh! I've had such a curious dream!"〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alice in Wonderland (musical)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|