This month we look behind the scenes of our upcoming Reif Dance spring production, Alice in Wonderland in “A Grin Without a Cat.”
Our Reif Dance spring production will last about 2 hours for the audience, but for the dancers and technical crew over 300 hours of rehearsal and 150 hours of construction, painting and lighting go into the show. Alice in Wonderland began in the fall of 2022 with our dance directors Micah and Yellie Chermak. They chose the title and decided what scenes and settings they wanted in the show. For Alice in Wonderland they took inspiration from John Tenniel’s original illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” According to Yellie, “We have decided to follow the book and pursue the narrative chronologically. We think it allows for fun and unique creative opportunities.”
Reif Dance productions make extensive use of painted backdrops to help set the mood and location of each scene. Backdrops can be flown in and out quickly for set changes and take up no room on stage, leaving more space for the dancers. Over the years we have discovered that if we don’t get our backdrops early that often our first choice will be gone! In January Micah, Yellie and I met and talked about creating an opening and closing scene in the “real” world, something for “down the rabbit hole,” a forest, and the Queen of Hearts castle. I directed them to a couple of websites and they browsed through their inventory then sent me their selections. All their first choices were available and we made our reservations.
Here is a preview of the backdrop they selected to represent the chaos and bewilderment of Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole and her arrival in Wonderland.
Once we have our backdrops selected and reserved, the production side of the show goes on the back burner while choreography and rehearsals begin. In March, we reconvened for a production meeting between Micah and Yellie and our primary production crew of myself, Greg Johnson and Melanie McCoy. We went through the show and learned what set and prop elements were needed. Everything from a giant mushroom for the Caterpillar and a tree for the Cheshire Cat to tables and chairs for the Mad Hatter’s tea party!
Alice says of the Cheshire Cat, “I’ve often seen a cat without a grin, but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!” That sparked a request from Micah and Yellie to have a giant disembodied Cheshire Cat smile and eyes on poles that could be manipulated by the dancers. Greg and Melanie did their own research and chose a slightly creepy version, which the dance directors approved.
The Cheshire Cat smile will be a collaborative project with Greg building it, Melanie researching black light paint, and a third tech person, Buzz McCulloch, painting it. Greg has been building Reif Dance sets for two years and loves seeing his work on stage. “From the first production meeting until show time, a lot of emotions can go into building a set piece: excitement, fear, hope, frustration, relief, and happiness. All of that pales in comparison to the joy of seeing what I’ve created being used in a production on stage,” said Greg.
Want to see how everything comes together? Don’t be late (like the white rabbit) and get your tickets now! Performances are June 9th at 6pm, June 10th at 2pm & 6pm, and June 11th at 2pm.
