Where-To-Go-Wednesday - Alice Live and Literally Alive Theatre's Alice in Wonderland

This years marks the 150th anniversary of  Alice in Wonderland. Accordingly, a number of theatres and  museums having been having related exhibits and/or shows. We spoke about one of these exhibits which took place at the Morgan Library and Museum in a recent post. That exhibit has since closed. This week we will be speaking about another museum exhibit marking this milestone as well as a new production of the story. We will share our own views of the classic tale in a future post.

 

What: Alice Live

Where: New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

              40 Lincoln Center Plaza

              New York, N.Y.

When: Now through January 6, 2015

Who: All ages

Mom's view:  Although Alice Live sounds like a theatrical production, it is actually an exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The exhibit focuses on various productions of Alice in Wonderland over the years. It features not only stage productions, but television productions, puppets shows and other types of productions as well even including an underwater production of the show. Along with the various artifacts including picture, books and scripts which will appeal more to older children and adults, there are several interactive aspects of the exhibit which children will love. There is a giant chess board. There is a tree which children can sit under and look at the available Alice in Wonderland books. There is even a table with a key and a tiny little door just like in the book and movie.  There are also several stations where there are headphones available to listen to songs from various productions of Alice in Wonderland as well as songs related to Alice in Wonderland  and Alice in Wonderland stories. The best part is the exhibit is all completely free. For more information go to http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/alice-live

 

 

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We were given free tickets to Literally Alive Theatre's production of  Alice in Wonderland for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Alice in Wonderland

Where: Literally Alive Theatre

              Players Theatre

              115 MacDougal

              New York, NY

When: Now through November 8, 2015

Who: All ages

Mom's view:  Literally Alive Theatre is one of our favorite children's theatres. We love the pre-show talks where children are given the opportunity to hear from members of the cast and/or crew to prepare them for the show they will be seeing. We also love the opportunity that they they are given after the talk to create an art project related to the show. This helps them to feel even more a part of the show. For the current production of Alice In Wonderland, children have the opportunity to make their own Mad Hatter hats. Afterwards, it's time to sit back and enjoy the show. Although some productions at Literally Alive are very different from the familiar versions of the stories since they are taken from the original books and not the well-known movies, this production is much more similar to the move in a lot of ways. There are, as always, completely new songs which were written for this version. I wouldn't say that the songs stuck in my head as well as those of some other productions we've seen at Literally Alive Theatre. However, they  were enjoyable to listen to during the course of the show. The show was well performed by the enthusiastic cast highlighted as usual by the always hilarious Eric Fletcher, who this time appears in the role of the Queen of Hearts. For an interview with Eric Fletcher, see this week's Saturday Special. As always, another highlight of the show is the opportunity for young children to meet and take pictures with cast members following the show. This interaction with the cast is one of the main reasons kids love Literally Alive Theatre and won't want to miss any of their children's productions. For more information or to order tickets go to http://www.literallyalive.com/shows/alice.html

And that's Mom's view. Tune in to Monday's Talking Topics post for more about Alice Live and Literally Alive Theatre's Alice in Wonderland. Tune in to tomorrow's Talking Topics post for this month's Monthly Mash-up.