Opera Holland Park

Lewis Carroll’s witty fantasy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is bought to life by Investec Opera Holland Park in the Linbury Studio Theatre this autumn.

Alice is 11, and completely marvellous. She’s jolted from her boring school holidays by an encounter with a talking White Rabbit – who insists she follow him to a mysterious Wonderland.

Alice meets all kinds of peculiar characters, including an astoundingly relaxed Caterpillar and a grinning Cheshire Cat. She also learns that all is not well in Wonderland: the Queen of Hearts seems worryingly keen to chop off everyone’s heads. But the Queen is not as bad as she seems, and with peace restored, Alice finds herself back home. Was it really all just a dream?

The music for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a brilliantly eclectic mix of jazz, musical and opera – there’s the basso profondo Caterpillar’s rumbling Wonderland Blues, a countertenor Cheshire Cat, a coloratura diva Drink Me bottle and a furiously flustered pantomime dame of a Queen of Hearts.

Gottlieb’s witty libretto moulds Carroll’s nonsense into a fun and engaging story that remains true to the original spirit of the book, which will delight adults and children alike.