Nestruck on theatre: soulpepper and bad hats announce premiere of alice in wonderland ‘filmed family musical’

Save for later Toronto’s theatre companies fell down a rabbit hole a couple of months ago as the city fell under a stay-at-home order more restrictive than almost anywhere else in the

country. It prohibited the rehearsing, filming or live-streaming of plays and musicals. But now, with the GTA back in what’s called the “grey zone” as of yesterday, postponed digital

projects are springing back to life, including _Alice in Wonderland_, a new “filmed family musical” that will have its world premiere “released” by Soulpepper next month. The musical is

created by the collective known as Bad Hats, which previously made a hit family musical out of public-domain material with _Peter Pan_, seen at Soulpepper and elsewhere by nearly 50,000

audience members. _Alice in Wonderland_, written by Fiona Sauder with songs by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko and based on the Lewis Carroll classic, will be shot at Soulpepper’s Michael

Young Theatre later this month. It will then “run” online from April 3 to 18, with the ticketed 90-minute production available to view in four-hour windows. Bad Hats and Soulpepper

originally intended to livestream performances of the long-in-development _Alice _this March. When the stay-at-home order scuttled that plan, the theatre companies pivoted a second time into

producing a professional film of the stage show that could go ahead no matter what. (Film and television production was permitted under Ontario’s stay-at-home orders – and, if the

distinction between that and filmed theatre confuses you, you’re not alone.) Bad Hats is employing a cast of nine actor-musicians through ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television

and Radio Artists) contracts rather than as stage actors. It also hired “lobbyists and lawyers” to make sure everything would pass muster with government officials, according to Pokinko,

executive producer of Bad Hats. The team has worked closely with ACTRA to make sure the filming process is as COVID-safe as any other set through testing, masks, distancing and see-through

separators. “We’ve been calling it _Alice Through the Plexiglas_,” jokes Sauder, who wears the artistic director hat at Bad Hats. The musical-theatre performers in _Alice _are top-notch.

Tess Benger, whose wonderful Dora-nominated performance as Dot in _Sunday in the Park with George_ was one of the last I saw before stages shut down in March, is starring as Alice, while

Vanessa Sears, who won a Dora for her superb early 2020 performance as Emmie in _Caroline, or Change_, is playing the Red Queen. Tickets go on sale Tuesday on Soulpepper’s website, and the

film will be made available for free to children at SickKids Hospital and to front-line workers and their families. _SPECULATION _IS ANOTHER TORONTO THEATRE PROJECT postponed this winter now

finally coming to life as a digital production from Theatre Passe Muraille. Creator Leslie Ting has an unusual CV: She used to be an optometrist and now is a professional violinist. In her

show about “grief, vision loss and silence,” she tells the story of her mother’s loss of vision and eventual death through monologue, projections and the music of Beethoven and John Cage.

Marjorie Chan, who took the helm of Theatre Passe Muraille as artistic director right before the pandemic hit, says the stay-at-home order has been a challenge for the venerable alternative

theatre. She cites in-person workshops turned into digital ones or pushed back to next season, added costs from new technology and safety measures, and plans that have had to constantly

shift along with government restrictions. At TPM, they’ve been naming each new plan after a flower rather than letters to lessen the anxiety: Plan Begonia, Plan Chrysanthemum, Plan

Dandelion, etc. “For _Speculation_, I feel as if we are in Plan Zinnia,” Chan says. _Speculation_, billed as a “digitally reimagined immersive concert,” runs March 17 to 20. Tickets are

being sold on a pay-what-you-can-afford model with prices from $5 to $50. ALSO STREAMING THIS WEEK: * _Duchess! Duchess! Duchess!_ is_ _an extremely timely new “filmed play” by Vivian J.O.

Barnes. Inspired by the story of Meghan Markle, it “uses the monarchy to investigate how society’s institutions of power affect Black women.” It premieres through Chicago’s acclaimed

Steppenwolf Theatre Company online on March 10, but is directed by Toronto theatre royalty: Soulpepper’s artistic director Weyni Mengesha. Look for my review later this week. * Toronto’s

Impel Theatre is making its first foray into what it calls “digital-first performance” with _An Acorn_, an interactive livestreamed production of Caridad Svich’s 2016 play directed by Kendra

Jones. The online presentation of this “meditation on isolation and separation – both physical and political” sounds intriguingly high concept. It will be performed on Zoom by two actors

who have rehearsed and two actors who have not. The livestreams are March 12 and 13; the show will then be available on demand until April 3. _Keep up to date with the weekly Nestruck on

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