Lewis Carroll clearly intended Wonderland and the Looking Glass World to be musical as much as they are magical places. Even when characters aren't breaking into song, the poems they recite have such a musical quality to them, all you have to do is read the words out loud to hear them sing. When I began this project, the first thing I wanted to make sure of was that I figured out how each poem sang to me straight off the pages of the books. I've carefully avoided listening to any other poem/song adaptations. I haven't watched any of the film adaptations in years.
Of course Alice has so deeply permeated pop culture, it's absolutely impossible not to pick up external influences. Fortunately, no one's Alice, or Cheshire Cat, or Caterpillar is exactly the same.
One of the most striking things about Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is how many different associations people have with these classic stories. Obviously this is partly due to the abundance of film and stage versions, each emphasizing (and altering) different aspects of the books. And of course the books themselves encourage it; each of Alice's encounters is an invitation to the reader for interpretation and reinterpretation.
Therefore, in putting the poems from these stories to music, I wanted to try and produce a soundtrack that felt coherent and unified, and--simultaneously--to create as eclectic a mash-up of genres and instrumentation as possible. I wanted waltzes that wouldn't sound out of place in a Victorian drawing room, and psychedelic rockers that would get the party started at the maddest 21st century mad tea party.
I also want to make sure my presentation and our performances of the songs emphasized the pointed social and political satire that almost always lies just beneath the surface of poems that are, at times, dismissed as “amusing nonsense.” Carroll takes on economic inequity, class privilege, ageism, and hypocrisy with so much wit and humor, it can be easy to laugh your way right past it.
Most importantly (to me, at least), I saw an opportunity to explore some of the stories' more nuanced moods and textures, subtler shades that can get lost in adaptations that attempt to make Alice in Wonderland into a zany Technicolor joyride. Alice is often bullied and manipulated by grown-ups (never mind the fact that they're usually animals, chess pieces, or playing cards). Alice is often lonely, scared, and confused. I wanted to make sure the songs reflected these more complicated states of being, in addition to conveying the sheer fun and raucous energy of Carroll's words and worlds.
In the two original songs I wrote for this production, “Push Them Into The Wishing Well” and “Contrariwise,” I attempt to give innocent Alice (and anyone else, for that matter) the best advice I have to offer when confronting the phoniness and cruelties of the adult world: don't conform, think for yourself, and stand up for yourself.
I've saved the best for last. My adaptations of these poems would be one dimensional stage facades without the contributions of my wonderful and talented band-mates. Ivan and James give these songs their pulse, their swagger, the swing in their step. And the brilliant (no, really) viola arrangements composed by James, and beautifully performed by Anna, totally blow my mind. I'll end with a challenge and a special offer: our complete discography, a lifetime's supply of treacle, and backstage passes for our next show at Carnegie Hall to anyone who can name every pop tune, jingle, and drinking song quoted in James' viola arrangement for “A-Sitting on a Gate” (The White Knight's Song). (You'll have to confirm your guesses with James, however, since I haven't figured all of them out myself, and he's not telling.)
We hope to go into the studio to record fifteen of these songs for our next album (“Contrariwise” or “Treacle And Ink”--which title do you like better?) in March. For more information or to get a copy, visit: www.thefrostheaves.com.
Song List:
words by Lewis Carroll, music by Daniel Hales, viola arrangements by James Lowe
1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat / Curiouser and Curiouser
2. Prelude: The Boat Song
3. Jabberwocky
4. “How doth the little crocodile... “
5. “Fury said to a mouse... “
6. Father William
7. “Speak roughly to your little boy... “
8. The Blue Danube (by Richard Strauss; arrangement by James Lowe)
9. “Will you walk a little faster? said a whiting to a snail... “
10. Beautiful Soup
11. “They told me you had been to her... “
12. Push Them Into the Wishing Well (words &music by Hales; viola arrange. by Lowe)
13. “In winter when the fields are white... “ (Intro. to Humpty's poem)
14. A-sitting on a Gate (The White Knight's Song)
15. Queen Alice
16. Boat Song: reprise
17. Contrariwise (words & music by Hales; viola arrangement by Lowe)