Now Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre saw fit to bring back the magic of Derek Deane’s version to the Benedum Center, where it had its North American premiere here in 2008. A lot has happened, however, since the year that the stock market went down its own rabbit hole and Barack Obama was first elected president.
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Last week I made a comment on an article about this production and how beautiful I thought it would be and how much I would love to see it. While still thinking these things, after reading this article I see there is more purpose in producing Alice in Wonderland now than just ticket sales and beautiful costumes. The original production of this piece in Pittsburgh occurred in 2008, but as the article explains a lot has happened since the "stock market went down the rabbit hole and Obama was elected president." Now, I see a production of Alice in Wonderland as a comment on our situation as a country. Like Alice, we were deceived and tricked as we fell down the rabbit hole of a Trump presidency, and like Alice and her group of friends we must band together to fight against our current situations and the evil that resides there. I realize this may be a bit of a stretch, but I also believe it is a realistic interoperation of the ballet at this time. I still am planning on seeing this performance this weekend with eager thrill and open ears.
It only seemed fitting that this be my final comment of the week. I was introduced to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre through this blog, which led me to purchase tickets for this spectacular show. As the date got closer, more and more posts surfaced about the show, causing my excitement to grow. Today is the day of the show so it is fitting this review will be my final comment requirement. That being said, I am so excited to see what this design team has thought up for the performance. Lewis Carroll was such a large part of my childhood, so it will be interesting to revisit this classic now in my early adulthood. I love that the show has come full circle too. It makes me feel like I am apart of the history this show has been making. I am extremely excited to see how these beloved characters are depicted through movement, space, and costume. This time tomorrow I will have my own review of the show and I can not wait!
Okay, so I just saw this ballet a couple hours ago, and before I say anything else, I want to state I definitely did enjoy this ballet. There were a lot of good moments and designs which excited me as a designer and a big fan of Alice in Wonderland. With that being said there are some things that I would want the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater to improve on. First thing: Work on your scenery. The thing is the Set designer and costume designer were the same person, and even though the person does seem to have credits in set design, there were some basic things and mistakes that I immediately picked up on. One of the biggest things was sightlines. From where I sat, I could see the offstage where the moveable scenery was taken on or off, or just left there (there was this one tea cup that was rigged and flew in and out in the beginning, and stayed in one spot the whole ballet, and I can very clearly see it). I could also see the dancers waiting (or talking offstage), and then come on and off. I could even see the line sets at one point. So basically, if there was at least better masking of the entrances and exits, then that would have helped me stay focus on the story ad not on the things off stage. 2nd thing: If a dancer is going to throw a prop, make sure that is a safe place to land, and not on the stage floor. There was an instance were a prop was thrown, and it collided with the floor, and it was just a really cringy moment, because for one: don’t hurt the stage floor (It is your baby!), and second don’t treat props like that, even if it seems like a small thing, there is no reason to damage it, especially if you could find another way to get rid of it. On a positive note: There was many things I did like about the show (in specific there was the crab costume, and fish costume that were just perf!), and I laughed so much. It was a great night and I recommend the show.
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