The Blitz Cast of Centerstage TheatreWorks’ ‘Alice by Heart.’ (Courtesy photo)
Up in Fairview, just past Allen, CenterStage TheatreWorks (CSTW) is doing its part in providing musical theater to the suburban masses as well as an outlet for theater creatives. The company performs its shows in the summer in a refashioned retail space at Fairview Town Center. For its second summer production, CSTW opened the Duncan Sheik/Steven Sater penned musical Alice by Heart last weekend. What they also did was prove that a drive to Fairview is worth it with a production full of inventive design, a strong cast of diverse fresh faces and an earnest desire to present theater in the area.
From the creators of Spring Awakening along with Waitress co-writer Jessie Nelson, Alice by Heart is a dramatic take on Alice in Wonderland. Set in a London tube or subway bunker in World War II, Alice Spencer and a group of Brits reside in the underground shelter away from the perpetual bombs falling above. Alice has her favorite book and with that, she begins to escape reality by crafting her own Wonderland with those around her while also comforting her sick friend Alfred. With her book destroyed though, she has to fashion the story from memory.
The show was double and for Saturday’s matinee, the Blitz Cast was featured.
The show itself was dynamic visually. The stage was really long because it was essentially one side of a retail shop. Caleb Ross’ set filled the extensive space with a replica of a London subway turned into a shelter. Both colorful and bleak, the stage made an immediate impression that was meticulously detailed. Set pieces by Jason and Scott Rice and Ross were clever constructions that often morphed into a variety of pieces. The moody lighting that was perpetually in motion was an added effect to the show’s entire feel.
Directed by CSTW artistic director Charlotte Taylor, the show moved well through its exposition and musical numbers. With healthy energy in its pacing and its
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