Wonderland

I went last night with really low expectations, memories of Wonder.land still giving me nightmares! Must say I was pleasantly surprised. The cast they have assembled is first class and the staging is simple but very effective. Kerry is on top form, Wendi Peters camps it up with a audience pleasing turn as the queen of hearts and Natile McQueen as the Mad Hatter puts in a great performance. The downside is the book is a little muddled and the music at times lacks originality but all in all it deserves to do well. Kerry at the end did seem to be visibly moved by the positive audience reaction so maybe they had concerns it was not going to play well ove here.
Definitely worth a punt if it is going to a theatre near you?

I was there last night. Went not knowing what to expect and came out absolutely buzzing! I found it quite slow and wooden at the start, maybe just first night nerves, but improved through first act. second act they came out on fire. Natalie McQueen was electric as mad hatter. wendi Peters very entertaining the brief spells she was on stage and I thought Kerry Ellis did excellently - I agree with Musicman, she did seem genuinely overcome with the standing ovation at the end - no mean feat from an Edinburgh Playhouse audience. at times band overpowered the singers and some songs are very fast which made the ensemble sound a little muffled but this may improve as they get into the tour. I was sitting across the aisle from Frank Wildhorn who seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. Tempted to make a return visit next weekend to see how it has improved - it doesn't seem to be selling well (although it is a huge venue to fill). Also trying to find OBC recording but can only find it on USA sites, not UK ones. Anyone help?

Was also there last night. Pleased to say that the show got a great reception with a spontaneous partial standing ovation. For a first preview, this was looking very tight apart from a small technical set mishap with the White Rabbit's first appearance. Small band of 8 but sounded fuller.

There are (I think) a couple of new songs which are not on the Broadway cast recording - firstly in Act 1 a largely forgettable duet (Love Begins) for Alice and Jack and secondly, This Is Who I Am, a great song for Alice and the Mad Hatter. The book has been amended for a British audience and while it still has rather a lot of dialogue, it is just possible to extract the show's message.

Musically, this is one of Wildhorn's more "poppy" shows with some generic numbers but there are still flashes of genius such as The Mad Hatter's two main numbers. Kerry Ellis is a good looking and vocally excellent Alice showing her rocky style as well as handling some of the trickier dialogue scenes with some good acting ability. The Mad Hatter is played by a fierce and quirky Natalie McQueen who almost stole the show and brought the house down with her belting of I Will Prevail at the start of the second act as well as a fine Mad Hatter number. My attention was constantly drawn to her as you never quite knew what she was going to say or do next.

Good support also from Stephen Webb as Jack - the intentionally cheesy Fiyero of the piece, and Dave Willetts as the White Rabbit. While Wendy Peters was good as the Queen, some of her diction could have been a bit clearer but she handled her big notes well. Also loved the Caterpillar but felt that the Cheshire Cat was slightly rushed and needs a bit of work on the characterisation.

The ensemble sounded fine (although their words could have been clearer in places) and they performed the largely contemporary choreography well. Thought that their costumes could have been a bit more sumptuous and distinctive but perhaps they blew the budget on the main characters' costumes. Loved the Caterpillar costume though. This is a good looking show for a touring production with well designed sets and some spectacular lighting particularly for the Mad Hatter's second big number. I don't think this show would look out of place in the West End.

Overall, I thought this was a four star production with the highlights for me being the solo numbers for Kerry and Natalie. Also randomly bumped into Frank Wildhorn himself who had been watching the show in the stalls. Spotted him as he was the only guy wearing a baseball hat! He thanked people around me for coming and asked them "to spread the word". Frank, your wish is my command.

Really glad that first preview went well. The producer alone made me sceptical and I know some people were hired at the very last minute (for example sound designer not hired until just two weeks before first preview, though I suspect the previous one may have jumped ship or something) so great that it has actually happened and seems like it might be a hit.

Is this a replacement for Go With The Flow, or the same song with a different name?

According to a friend who was there, it's a different song.  Also, Heroes might be in the programme but it wasn't in the show on Friday night, which is a shame since I really like it from the cast recording (it was cut before Broadway) and got excited when I saw it in the song list on here.

I've booked for the first night in Birmingham.  Having been so looking forward to this tour, I'm now starting to worry that I'll be disappointed ... despite agreeing that the show still needed work, I've watched the *ahem* clips on Youtube so many times that I'm not sure how I'll take to a different version.

I'm quite looking forward to this too, despite my dislike of the original story. So is this a "take" on that or is it the actual story? Can someone put some context around it?

Thank you Daniel

The plot and book are quite pathetic, but the score, as we expect from Wildhorn, is power ballad heaven. I'm approaching it as though I'm going to a concert with sets and costumes.

Yeah, no credit needed haha, I got it from Broadway.com, I could never articulate something like that!

Thanks Alison. That's a shame, it's one of my favourites on the cast recording. I'll probably still go when it comes to Brighton though.

Was at the opening night and I thought it was fantastic.
Great rock score. All main parts well cast with very good performances.
The chorus looked as if it was straight out of drama school and over-acted accordingly with enthusiasm but they will learn from the leads and you need to get experience somewhere.
Will probably go again when it reaches Glasgow.
Easily the best thing I've seen this year