Alice at the Palace

This is a fun musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "through the looking glass".

Meryl Streep (at age of 33) does a good presentation of Alice but does not outshine all the other characters, in this Broadway production based on Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production.

Lovers of the books may find this a tad wanting, however, theater viewers can spot the depth and presentation style.

Everybody will have a different favorite part of this presentation; mine is the singing of the Jabberwocky. Nice close-ups of eyes that you do not get in from a distance.

This is but one of many great Broadway Theatre archives that you will want to add to your collection.

I leave you with this thought: "No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise."

I've seen several stage and film adaptations of Alice in Wonderland and this one has to take the cake as the absolute worst. My family bought the DVD unsuspectingly and couldn't even make it through the first half. I later went back and forced myself to watch the whole thing (it had been a Christmas gift to me) and was just appalled.

The only redeeming factor (and it's hardly redeeming enough to save the whole show) is Mark Lin-Baker playing the Mock Turtle with a Yiddish accent. It's one of the few moments in the piece that has some real charm and can be taken somewhat seriously. Other than that, the songs are half-songs, the melodies are half-melodies and even Meryl Streep cannot make this direction look good.

I had almost thought this was a figment of my imagination.....I remember this from so long ago, and I recently decided to Google the title to see what happened----I was so hoping for it to be on video! The songs and the entire production were so fetching! I can remember the Cheshire Cat's song so well! I only saw this one time on television, but for some reason the title stuck in my head and I always hoped to find it someday! I cannot believe it is from so long ago!!! 1982---oh, my! Someone, somewhere must have a tape of this--can I buy a copy from you?? E-mail me if you have one!! Thanxxxxxxxx--------- Maxxine Alma

Maxxine_Alma@yahoo.com

Ordinarily, I would avoid watching a taping of a stage production for television broadcast, since one is generally receiving the worst results of both live theatre and cinema. But, I've been seeking a bunch of Alice movies since reading Lewis Carroll's books, and this filmed play stars Meryl Streep as Alice. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see one of the greatest actresses in recorded history take on the eponymous role. It turns out, too, that "Alice at the Palace" is an interesting musical-theatre adaptation.

In retrospect, Streep here, singing and dancing with joy while wearing overalls will remind one of "Mamma Mia!" (2008). Likewise, this is fun to watch because it's evident that she is having fun. Indeed, there are quite a few shots of her smiling and laughing at other characters--or even the actors, as though she's breaking character. Some of the backstage and the balcony are already in the picture, so the production always seems to be teetering on breaking the fourth wall even though it never decisively does so.

The adaptation overcomes the episodic nature of the books better than most theatrically-released or other TV movies that I've seen. It progresses from act to act in a loose, free-flowing sort of reworked way. For instance, the Mock Turtle soup song turns into one of too much pepper in the baby's soup, and, suddenly, we've transitioned to the scene with the Duchess and her pepper-crazed maid. Furthermore, the camera placement and scene dissection is well thought out to produce the stage production for TV. Although the production values aren't at the same level, there's a considerable amount of miming by the actors that alludes to the minimalist stagings. The spectator is expected to fill in the gaps just like the dreaming Alice has to in the story.

The only matter of the stage production that I'm not fond of is the hint of ethnic stereotyping for some of the Wonderland creatures. Beginning with the music suggesting the Orientalism of the Caterpillar, there's also a Jewish Mock Turtle boring Alice with the history of his youth, and I wonder whether it's a coincidence or the angry-black-woman stereotype that has African Americans playing Carroll's two most irascible female characters, the Duchess and the Red Queen. On the other hand, perhaps, I'm reading too much into what is otherwise a lively and carefree version of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and its sequel, "Alice Through the Looking Glass."

Michael Jeter was not the Caterpillar, though he was the Duchess' Baby, the Dormouse and Bill the Lizard. He was an amazing character actor, and his work in "Alice at the Palace" illustrates it.

I remember watching "Palace" when it first aired in 1981. I was 9, and I didn't get it. Now, at the ripe old age of 36, I'm a huge fan. The ensemble is simply top notch, from Meryl Streep and Rodney Hudson to Debbie Allen, Mark Linn-Baker (his Mock Turtle and White Knight are spot on) and Jeter.

Other reviews of this production have been harsh. Most audiences prefer to have the story handed to them ala Disney. In the theatre, audiences are given more credit and expected to "fill in the blanks" with their imagination. That is definitely the case here. The actors, in the same spirit as the 1966 BBC version of "Alice", are not smothered or suffocated beyond recognition by their costumes. Instead they're allowed to use their bodies (wow, what a concept) to morph and melt from one character to the next. The result is breath taking.

Now, here's something a little off topic but nonetheless important to mention. Why is it that, next to Michael Jeter's name in the cast roster, the word "Caterpillar" is misspelled and posted anyway, yet when I attempt to misspell it in the title of this post, the word is automatically spell checked and fixed? That makes no sense, but I suppose it fits with the theme of this film.