Damon Albarn is traveling down the rabbit hole that is musical theatre for the upcoming Manchester International Festival. The Blur frontman is working on the instrumentals to a new musical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland titled wonder.land, which treats the magical world of Lewis Carrol's original novel to the digital treatment. The plot centers around a child named Aly who escapes to the internet to avoid her unhappy reality and encounters the famed characters of the original novel, including the Red Queen and Cheshire Cat.
"I'm fascinated by the idea of going down a rabbit hole," Albarn said, describing his interest in the plot (from NME). "The otherwordliness and what that might mean. Alice aside, The Queen of Hearts, The Duchess, White Rabbit, Caterpillar were the most threatening characters of my childhood. I was genuinely very frightened of them as a kid."
Albarn will handle the music while the libretto will be covered by Moira Buffini and the musical will be directed by Rufus Norris. Lighting specialist Paule Constable and 59 Productions, the same team that handled design for the well-regarded play War Horse, will also team up for wonder.land.
This won't be Albarn's first time at the theater. The musician previously worked with Norris on the opera Dr. Dee, an opera on the 16th Century scientist John Dee that was well received. We'll have to see how audiences enjoy the adaptation of a classic piece of literature in this case. Albarn had previously reported that he was working on a "family musical," although this doesn't seem to quite fit the description he gave.
Showings of wonder.land will begin in July at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
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