A NEW MUSICAL
Teacher Resource Guide 1
Wonderland: A New Musical Synopsis
Adapting a Story
WONDERLAND is the giddy, soaring musical that plunges a new kind of Alice into a dazzling world of kaleidoscopic fantasy and romantic adventure. Returning to the strange universe of the classic “Alice in Wonderland,” we find its timeless characters have evolved with the changing times but remain as familiar and endearing as ever. These residents of the Queen of Hearts’ kingdom are now threatened by a new and madder Mad Hatter, whose dark ambition is matched only by her fearsome beauty. Into this troubled Wonderland lands Alice Stetson, whose life in New York with her ten-year-old daughter Chloe is equally in crisis. Alice’s yearning for happier times causes her to follow the legendary White Rabbit deep below the city of New York to a world like nothing she’s seen.
Adaptation starts with a story, or in musical theatre terms, the “book,” which consists of the story, character development, spoken dialogue and sometimes the song lyrics. Inspiration for a musical can come from anywhere — a novel, a movie, or a classic children’s storybook. Wonderland is an example of a book musical — not because it comes from a book, but because it combines music, lyrics and dance with a well-crafted story. In a book musical, the composer and lyricist are instrumental in the creation of the overall concept for the show. They compose the musical score and lyrics as well as work closely with the director, designers and playwright. Over the years there have been many notable composer-lyricist partnerships, for example, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy.
With a memorably tuneful, enticing and moving score by Broadway’s Frank Wildhorn (JEKYLL & HYDE) and Jack Murphy (THE CIVIL WAR), stunning dance from multiple Emmy award-winner and Austin Powers choreographer Marguerite Derricks, and as dazzling a scenic design as Broadway has seen, WONDERLAND is a deliriously funny, touching, life-affirming musical to stir the heart and delight the imagination.
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The Role of the Creative Team In the process of producing a new musical there are many people behind the scenes who create the magic that you see and hear on stage. Composer: A composer writes the score for the musical.
Choreographer: A choreographer chooses the style and form of the dance routines in a musical production.
Lyricist: A lyricist writes the song lyrics for the musical numbers.
Musical Director: The musical director supervises the singers and orchestra for the production.
Director: A director is responsible for the artistic unity of a production. They will interpret the script and define the look, style, mood, pace, and arc of the action. In a musical production the director also works closely with the choreographer and musical director to cast the show and rehearse the actors.
Set Designer: The set designer creates the physical world of the play, working with the director and other designers to set the mood, time and place of the production. Costume Designer: The costume designer creates the clothing and accessories worn by the actors that will enhance the persona of their character.
Book Writer: A book writer works in conjunction with the composer, lyricist and director to write the spoken dialogue for the musical.
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answering the following questions: Which creative team member did you choose? What job did this person do? How did they contribute to the performance? How does their work support this production? What did you see on stage that reflected your person’s work? 3. Next, ask them to research this job and find out what it involves and what their roles and responsibilities during the creation and running time of the production are. 4. Invite each student to create a collage from their team members’ perspective of their personal vision for Wonderland. Ask them to think about how they would like to see their vision come to life. 5. Finally, once everyone has created their collage, ask them to present and talk about their concept for the production.
Quick Challenge: Be Part of the Creative Team! After your students have seen the show, ask them to hang on to their Playbill from the production and bring it to class. Alternatively they can go online at: http://www.wonderlandonbroadway.com. When creating Wonderland, the design team worked together to combine their ideas, skills and expertise. In this activity, your students will experience what it is like to be in a production meeting and make decisions about creating a musical. 1. Ask your students to take out their
Playbill from the performance of Wonderland. 2. As a class, find the list of the creative team in the Playbill. Have a discussion about the role of each member by
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Historical Context
Wonderland is an adaptation of two of Lewis Carroll’s most famous works, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. These books were inspired by Carroll’s friendship with a young neighbor, Alice Liddell. The books were filled with references to chess, logic and geometry as well as strange and colorful characters that called Wonderland their home. Carroll’s writing respects children’s intelligence, curiosity and, most of all, their imagination and sense of fun.
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Worksheet Idea: Magic Math (M, S, T) Lewis Carroll was not only a children’s author full of imagination, but he was also a brilliant mathematician! He incorporated this passion into his books — can you spot where? The Challenge: Using numbers 1–9 in the squares below so that every row, column and diagonal line adds up to the sum of 15. (Solutions on the back page.)
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15
Math Activity Adapted from www.mathforum.org/magic.square
Do you know any other math games you can think of to challenge your friends?
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An Introduction to the Author… Lewis Carroll Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson: author, poet, mathematician, and amateur photographer. Born January 27, 1832 in England, he was the third oldest of 11 children born to Reverend Charles Dodgson. Educated at Oxford University, he became a professor at the early age of 19 and spent his career as an academic, lecturing in mathematics at Christ Church College. Partially deaf and afflicted with a stutter, he was shy and reserved in the company of adults, but completely at ease with children. He would delight them with stories, riddles, and word games of his own invention. He created the word ladder game “Doublets” and an earlier version of the board game Scrabble. Best known as the author of the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Dodgson also published poetry, satirical pamphlets on university life, and mathematical works. He was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1861, although never entered the priesthood and never married. Charles Dodgson died suddenly on January 14, 1898 from pneumonia at the age of 66.
Did you know… Alice was not the only person from the author’s life that was represented in his books. Dodo was none other than Lewis Carroll himself — the name being the pronunciation of his real last name with a stutter (Do-Dodgson).
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Who was the real Alice…? Alice Pleasance Liddell was born May 4, 1852 in England, the fourth child of Henry and Lorina Liddell. Shortly after her birth, her father became the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, where Charles Dodgson (Carroll) taught. Alice was only 4 years old when she first met Dodgson, and quickly became his favorite subject to photograph and the protagonist in the adventure stories he would tell to her and her sisters. It was on a rowing trip with Dodgson, where he first shared with 10-year-old Alice and her two sisters a particular story about a young heroine’s adventures when she fell down a rabbit hole. It is said that Alice asked him to write the story down and some months later, he presented her with the original manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Underground complete with his own illustrations. It was published three years later in 1865 with the illustrations of political cartoonist Jon Tenniel as Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, followed in 1871. Dodgson made Alice immortal through his stories, however their friendship lessened in the years following its publication. Liddell grew up and was rumored to be a romantic interest of Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria’s youngest son. However, the tragic loss of her younger sister Edith diminished their relationship. Liddell married Reginald Hargreaves in 1880, and was forced to sell her original copy of Alice’s Adventure Underground to maintain their estate after his death. The manuscript was sold at auction and displayed at Columbia University in New York City, but later presented to the British people in honor of their sacrifices in World War II, where it currently resides in the British Library in London. Alice Hargreaves died on November 16, 1934 at the age of 82.
Did you know… although some experts
say the illustrations in Carroll’s novels closely resemble Alice’s sister, Edith, there is no doubt Alice was the inspiration for the classic stories. There are at least three direct links to her in the books, including a dedication to “Alice Pleasance Liddell,” both the original and sequel are set on May 4 and November 4, which are Alice’s birthday and half-birthday respectively, and finally in a poem that appears at the end of Through the Looking-Glass, in every first word, the first letter forms an acrostic of her name. 8
Note to the Teacher The following 3 sections contain a range of activities, information and questions that can stand alone or work as a building block towards the creation of a complete unit of work.
through observing, discussing and responding to live theater and dramatic literature. In this strand, dramatic literature is also viewed as a catalyst for production and performance. Making Connections: Students make connections to theater by developing an understanding of self and others. They respond to theater by identifying personal issues and universal themes in performance and in dramatic text. They investigate theater by examining the integration of other arts into a complex multi-media art form. Working with community and cultural resources: community resources that support theatermaking, theater literacy, theater connections and career exploration, and expand students’ opportunities for learning. Active partnerships that combine school, professional and community resources create rich avenues for student and teacher innovation in the classroom and in production.
Fundamentally, we have provided practical, ready-to-use activities created to be flexible in structure that you can adapt to suit the needs of your classroom. They have been designed to expand your students’ appreciation of Wonderland and its major themes. Also you will find connections to the NYC Department of Education’s Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Arts: Theater and the NYS Learning Standards and to aid you in your planning. See below: Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts: Theater. Grades Pre K–12 New York City Department of Education
Exploring Careers and Life Long Learning: Students develop audience skills and a connection to theater that allows them to value the theater throughout their lives. They explore the scope and variety of theater careers in teaching, production, performance, criticism, design, technical theater and related occupations, and they investigate how these careers align with their personal goals and aspirations.
Theater making: Acting, Playwriting/ Play making, provides multiple avenues for active learning. Through the interpretation of dramatic literature and the creation of their own works, students engage as writers, actors, designers, directors and technicians. Developing Theater Literacy: Theater literacy provides theater vocabulary when making and responding to performance, and develops critical, analytical and writing skills
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Curriculum Connections: New York State Learning Standards Excerpt taken from Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts: Theater Grades Pre K-12, New york city Department of education www.schools.nyc.gov www.p12.nysed.gov/nysatl/standards The following activities in this study guide supports learning in the following areas: ARTS (A) • Creating, Performing & Participating in the Arts • Knowing & Using Arts Materials & Resources • Responding To & Analyzing Works of Art • Understanding the Cultural Dimensions LANGUAGE ARTS (LA) • Language for Information & Understanding • Language for Literary Response & Expression • Language for Critical Analysis & Evaluation • Language for Social Interaction MATH, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY (M, S, T) • Analyze and inquire to pose questions and develop solutions • Understand relationships and themes and apply to other areas of learning
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• What do they remember about the story, the plot and characters? • Do they know a different adaptation than you? • Have they read about the character of Alice in other works of literature and film?
Section One: A New Alice… Wonderland: is an adaptation of two of Lewis Carroll’s most famous works, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Since publication over 100 years ago, they have inspired many adaptations to the stage and screen, most notably Walt Disney’s animation in 1951 and Tim Burton’s 2010 feature film of the same name, Alice in Wonderland.
After your students have interviewed their family and friends, discuss the following questions with the whole class: • This book is over 100 years old, why do you think this story is still read, retold, performed and adapted today? • Why do you think that so many artists from around the world have been inspired to create plays, musicals, movies, poems, songs and comic books about this story and its characters? • What memories do your family and friends have about this story? • How old were you when you first learned about Alice? • How do you think the theater company will create the magical world of Wonderland on stage?
The following activities should be explored with your students before they see this production of Wonderland, as it will ask them to reflect on what they already know about this story and its characters, and challenge them to think about how they would reimagine this story and make it their very own. Activity One: Timeless Tales (LA, A) Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland captured the imaginations of children and adults alike and has never been out of publication since its release in 1865. It has been published in over 100 countries and translated into over 120 languages worldwide.
Blueprint Connections: Theater Making: Students gain skills as emergent playwrights by identifying and using elements of dramatic literature in writing, theater exercises and activities.
As a homework assignment, ask your students to interview their parents, grandparents, family members and friends to discover what they know about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. See some suggested questions below:
Theatre Literacy: Students examine theater history to further understand its social and cultural context. Making Connections: Students refine their personal responses to theater by comparing various interpretations of a work and the context that informs the production of that work.
• How old were they when they first learned about Alice’s adventures? • Did they read about her in a book, or see her in a movie or live on stage? 11
Section One: A New Alice… (Continued) Teacher Note: For younger students, ask them to identity the beginning, middle and end of this story and circle them on their timeline.
Activity Two: Remembering and Retelling (LA, A) Many of us have heard about Alice and her amazing adventure down the rabbit hole. But what do we “actually” remember about the story? The following activity will discover what your students remember about the story and characters, and challenge them to create their own adaptations from different perspectives.
5. Now, ask each group to think about the
defining moments they have chosen, but from a different character’s point of view. For example, in the beginning of the story you may remember that Alice is frustrated by the White Rabbit who will not stop to talk to her, so she follows him down into the rabbit hole. However, how do you imagine the White Rabbit feels in that moment? Why doesn’t he stop and talk to Alice? Is he going somewhere important? Has he met Alice before? 6. Next, ask your students to recreate their 3 moments in a scene, but from their new character’s point of view. Ask them to include a clear beginning, middle and end point, and each scene should be at least 2 minutes long. 7. After some rehearsal time, ask each group to share their scenes with the rest of the class, reflecting on the following questions below:
1. Divide your students into small groups and
give each one a large sheet of poster paper and several marker pens. 2. First, encourage your students to discuss what adaptations of this famous story they already know. For example, have they read Lewis Carroll’s original or experienced a different adaptation? 3. After a brief discussion, ask them to agree on the arc of the story and explain that they will now create a timeline of the plot. They should draw it out on the large sheet of poster paper including as much detail about the story that they can remember. How does the story begin? Where is Alice when we are first introduced to her? Who is the first character she meets? And so on until the end of the story. 4. Once the timeline is complete, ask each group to choose 3 defining moments in the story. What were the turning points for Alice? What was going through her mind during these crucial moments?
As an audience member, how did these familiar moments from a different character’s point of view change the story? How did these changes alter your perception of these characters? What would happen if you created alternative scenes for each moment on your timeline?
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Section One: A New Alice… (Continued) Activity Three: What Came Before the Rabbit Hole…? (LA, A)
3. Next, have each group create a short scene
about what their chosen character did the day before the original story took place. For example, what was the Caterpillar doing the day before his encounter with Alice? 4. Once everyone is finished, have each group share their scene with the class.
As we know, Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, and he later wrote a sequel called Through the LookingGlass, and What Alice Found There in 1871. Since then, there have been many adaptations of Carroll’s famous work often blending together plot and characters from both books to create their own reimagining of this celebrated story.
Why did your group choose their character? What new discoveries did you make about Lewis Carroll’s characters? What new elements did you bring to your character when creating this prequel?
In the following activity, your students will create a prequel to both of these stories titled What Came Before the Rabbit Hole… 1. Ask your students to get into small groups,
and each group is to pick one character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There to focus on. For example, your group could choose Alice or any of the characters from the books. 2. Once they have chosen their character, ask them to brainstorm what they already know about them. Encourage them to use their timelines from the previous activity as a guide. Where in the story is the first time we meet this character? What are they doing when we first meet them? What do they look like? Describe their features and what they are wearing? What happens to them in the story?
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Section Two: Musical Personalities Activity One: Name that Song? (A)
Blueprint Connections:
In the show, Frank Wildhorn has created “musical personalities” for each of the characters in the story which allows the audience to instantly identify with them.
Theater Making: Working alone and in groups, students begin to recognize and articulate their personal vision and the cultural context of their work.
1. Explain to your students that their
Theatre Literacy: Students practice constructive responses to theater performance using observable evidence to support opinion.
task is to find a song that they feel best represents their personality. This can be from Wonderland (go to http:// wonderlandonbroadway.com/sounds. html), another musical they may have seen, or a classical or contemporary song by their favorite artist — it’s up to them! 2. Once they have their song, the next step is to research the origin or inspiration behind that song.
Making Connections: Students explore elements of theater shared with other art forms.
When creating the music for Wonderland, composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Jack Murphy were able to develop “musical personalities” for each of the iconic characters in the show. Whether it is writing for someone’s singing voice, or creating a musical motif to represent their character, musicals are able to communicate powerful emotions through melodies and lyrics.
• What inspired the artist to compose or write it? • Are there other songs by this artist that you are familiar with? • What kind of story does this song tell? • What instruments were used to create this song? • What year was the song created? • Where were you when you first heard this song? • What memories do you have around this song? • What about this song represents you and your personality? • Why do you identify with the musical score or lyrics?
The following activities can be shared with your students either before or after they have seen the production, as they will have the opportunity to demonstrate what songs represents their personalities and explore the emotions in musical theater.
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Section Two: Musical Personalities (Continued) 3. Invite your students to bring their chosen
to 1 and then call out an emotion and they must create a “still image” portraying that emotion. Remind them that this is a silent activity and they must rely on their facial expressions and gestures. 5. Next, ask half the class the take a seat, and half the class to continue walking around the space. Position yourself behind the audience so they can’t see you and signal to the performers which emotion from the board that you wish them to convey. (You may also hold up cards with the emotions clearly displayed on them.) 6. The performers must hold their images while the audience guesses their emotion and after a few rounds ask participants to switch.
songs to class and share it with the whole group. Encourage any musicians or singers in the group to perform their song, or you can provide equipment such as an iPod dock with speakers or a CD player to play each song. What kind of songs did your classmates share? Were you familiar with any of the songs, or did you hear new pieces? What about the song represented the classmate who shared it? Activity Two, Part One: Power of Emotion (A) Often in musical theatre, it is the powerful emotions of the characters that drive the action and inspire everything that happens on stage. In this activity, your students will explore emotions and methods to convey it to an audience.
As a performer, what were the challenges when conveying such powerful emotions? As an audience member, how were you able to identify the emotions of the performers? What were the common expressions or gestures used to convey these emotions? Why do you think that is? Even without words, were you able to identify each emotion?
1. Begin by asking your students, why do
they think characters burst into song in musical theatre? 2. Next, ask them to brainstorm typical emotions that are usually found in musical theatre. Encourage them to give specific examples and record those emotions on the board. For example, love, jealousy, anger, betrayal, sorrow, joy, anticipation, etc. 3. Once you have a list of emotions on the board, ask students to walk around the room in actor’s neutral. 4. Explain that you will count down from 3
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Section Two: Musical Personalities (Continued) Activity Two, Part Two: Emotion Orchestra (A) As we know, emotions are extremely important in musical theatre. This activity will challenge your students to emphasize emotions and learn how to perform them in a big way.
As a performer, what skills did you use to make your emotions as large as possible? How were you able to perform alongside other groups at the same time? What kinds of directions did the conductor give you as an orchestra?
1. Place your students into small groups and
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ask them to sit together creating a circle around you. Ask each group to choose an emotion from the previous activity. For example, anger, joy, sadness, anticipation. Once they have their emotion they should select sounds and gestures that they feel represents this emotion. Explain that they must not use words, just these sounds and physical gestures. Next, explain that when you point to a group, they must perform their emotion through their sounds and gestures. You may also use hand signals to indicate when to get louder, softer, when to stop and when to perform. Go around to each group and once they are familiar with the exercise, begin to direct them as if you are a conductor and they are your orchestra. You may overlap groups or have them perform all at once. The challenge is to encourage each group to make their emotions as large as possible. Ask them to imagine they are on stage at The Marquis Theatre on Broadway and they must project to the back row! After a while, offer the conductor’s role to a student volunteer and have fun creating an Emotion Orchestra. 16
Section Two: Musical Personalities (Continued) Activity Three: Lyricist Love! (LA, A) Wonderland is a musical, which means that characters will break into song during the show. A song can be an indication of the mood and emotions of that character or simply a way to move the plot forward.
4. Once they have written their lyrics, they
should rehearse singing it along to their chosen song. Explain that it can be sung as a group, or divided among the group members into solos, duets and choral sections. 5. After some rehearsal time, invite your students to share their song. They can simply read it out or perform it for the rest of the class.
1. Divide your students into small groups
and ask each group to select one song from the first activity in this section, or they can choose a completely new song from Wonderland, another musical or any song they all know. 2. Once they have chosen their song, they will use the tune or melody and write new lyrics inspired by the scenarios listed below:
As an audience member, what emotions did you see being conveyed in the performances? Were the scenarios familiar to you, where had you seen them before? As a lyricist, what were the challenges in telling a story through song? How did it feel to perform your song as a group?
• You are a writer who has lost their inspiration • You and a friend don’t seem to be getting along anymore • You meet a long lost friend • You finally realize someone in your life means a lot to you 3. Each group will collectively write the
lyrics to their song and tell a story inspired by their chosen scenario above. Encourage them to incorporate as many of the powerful emotions they have been exploring in the two previous activities and think about how they will convey those emotions to an audience. Each song should have at least two verses and a chorus, which is repeated.
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Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland Musicals are known for their extravagant and beautiful sets, costumes and lighting designs. In the theatre, the designs for the set and costumes help the audience to further understand the time and location that the story takes place. In Wonderland, the design team creates the extraordinary world that lies deep beneath New York City; however, they also rely of the audience’s imagination to bring these elements to life. This section can be explored before or after your students have seen the production, as they will use their imaginations and creativity to bring “their” Wonderland to life and discover how to move within it.
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Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland (Continued) Activity One: Door Number One (A) In the show, Alice and her daughter Chloe are both taken on an adventure down into the mysterious depths of Wonderland. In this activity, students will use their imagination to go on a “guided journey” through Door Number One. Teacher Note: This activity might be best in a school gym with plenty of open space. 1. Ask your students to find a space in the room on their own, lie down and close their eyes. 2. Suggest that they take a few deep breaths and relax. Ask them to imagine that they are lying
in their bed at home and about to drift into a deep sleep. 3. Explain to your class that the following steps will be narrated, and as you describe their actions and the environment around them, they should silently act it out. You are lying in your bed drifting into a deep sleep. Suddenly you are startled awake. You have a sinking feeling that you are late for something, but you are not sure what? You quickly jump off the bed and head towards the door. You take hold of the handle and rattle it desperately, but the door will not open. Puzzled by this, you turn around just in time to see your bedroom disappear, and you are now surrounded by other doors with numbers on them. You run towards a door with the “number one” clearly marked on it, you turn the handle and step into an elevator. It is a charming old-style elevator with a sliding gate. A strange voice announces, “Ping, going down”, and the elevator takes off at impossible speeds. You hold on as the floors fly by basements and sub-basements, until you are traveling through a scene of swirling lights. You hear another, “Ping”, the elevators door opens, you stumble out into a crowd of people all dressed as characters that you recognize from the story Alice in Wonderland. Confused, you notice someone in the crowd that you know very well and are desperate to talk to. You try to push your way towards them, and can see their head bobbing up and down out of the sea of people. You realize that this person is not alone, but following a White Rabbit who is carrying a large interesting looking watch. You try with all your strength to reach them, but are held back by all of the people. After some time you eventually manage to escape the crowd but have lost sight of the person you were following. Looking around you reach the conclusion that you have been in this place before. Ahead, you see an odd-looking small door with the “number two” written above it in smoke. You walk towards it slowly. What was your favorite part of the guided journey? Why? Were you able to imagine all of the different parts of the journey? Can you remember them? What do you think is behind door “Number Two?”
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Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland (Continued) scale of 1-10, 1 being tiny, 5 being normal and 10 being large, explain that they are going to explore moving through a space as it evolves around them. 4. Randomly call out the numbers on the scale, encourage students to use their bodies, gestures and facial expressions to represent each shift. 5. Continue to narrate the story and encourage them to be creative with their physical shapes and positions.
Blueprint Connections: Theater Making: Students will increase their range of expression as playwrights through the use of vocabulary and dramatic structure, and by exploring various theatrical styles and forms. Making Connections: Students broaden their understanding of theater by applying concrete learning from other disciplines.
The small odd-looking door begins to grow, but not enough for you to fit through. You take another sip, and then another until the door is large enough for you to enter.
Theater Literacy: Students use vocabulary that is authentic and integral to theater and other art forms.
Activity Two: Door Number Two (A) Similar to the previous activity, you will facilitate a guided journey for your students but now focus on the physicality of moving through space.
How did you use your bodies and physical gestures to represent each number on the scale? What shapes did you see your fellow classmates creating with their bodies? What do you think is in the blue vial? Use your imaginations to describe what happened to you after you drank the contents of vial? What do you think is behind door “Number Two?”
1. Once again, ask your students to find a
space in the room and close their eyes. 2. After a few breaths, explain that they are standing in front of a large door with the “number two” written above it in smoke. Continue the narration… You notice a small blue vial that seems to glow with a light from within. You hold it up closely to read what it says on the label. The words “Drink Me” are written on it. You take off the top and smell its contents. You gingerly take a sip. 3. Now, ask your students to imagine what
would happen if the room they were standing in began to shift in size. Using a 20
Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland (Continued) Activity Three: Sense and Nonsense (LA, A) Now that your students have created and explored how they would move through Wonderland, in the following activity your class will discover how they would communicate in this world. As many characters in this play talk in riddles, your students will write unusual poetry and explore the vocabulary from the show.
Teacher Note: The following lists are taken directly from Wonderland.
1. Share with your students an excerpt from
what is thought to be the most famous non-sensical poem in the English language “Jabberwocky.” 2. Ask them to read the poem aloud: Where have you heard this poem before? What do you think is happening in the poem? Who is the Jabberwock? Who do you think wrote this poem? 3. After a brief discussion, clarify that this verse is part of a seven stanza poem written by Lewis Carroll as part of his sequel novel Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There in 1872. In the story Alice finds a book in a strange language and quickly realizes it is written in reverse, as everything through the looking glass is backwards. Holding up a mirror, Alice is able to decipher the words to the “Jabberwocky” poem below:
Verbs
Nouns
Golden Fragrant Beautiful Bright Dark Polluted Clouded Scary Stale Brave Pretty Willful Mopey Crazy Hazy Naughty Nice Funny
Night Machine Dream Heart Hero Baby Doll Shoes Mother Daughter Rabbit Cat Caterpillar Girl Tea Pot Tea Cup Flower Raven Hat Mirror Queen Watch
Adjectives Creeping Dreaming Singing Sleeping Swooshing Shifting Screaming Falling Shrinking Glowing Writing Drinking Eating Flowing
5. Explain that your student’s task is to create
a short, rhyming poem from the words listed above, they can even use the list to invent brand new words by combining adjectives and verbs to create “Adjerbs,” or nouns and verbs to create “Nouverbs.” Share examples below: Adjective + Verb = “Adjerb” Golden + Dreaming = “Goleaming”
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Noun + Verb = “Nouverb” Swooshing + Raven = “Swooven” — and these words can mean anything you want!
4. Explain to your students that many of the
6. Once they have written their poems
words in this poem are of Carroll’s own invention, and then list the following Adjectives, Nouns and Verbs on the board.
ask each students to share theirs with a neighbor. 21
Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland (Continued) Activity Four: You’ll Be Finding Wonderland… (A) The following activity is a culmination project, as students will create choreography inspired by the poetry they have written and using theatrical techniques they have explored throughout this study guide. 1. Divide students into small groups and provide each group with a large sheet of poster paper
and marker pens. 2. Ask each group member to share their poem from the previous activity, and as a group, pull 4–5 words from each one that “pops” or stands out to them. Teacher Note: An alternative would be to ask each student to choose 4 words from their poem and share those with their group.
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Section Three: You’ll be Finding Wonderland (Continued)
3. Once they have their list of words, this will make up their group poem. Ask them to write it
out on their sheet of poster paper. 4. Next, they should assign a motif symbol to represent each word. For example, “flowing” might be a wiggly line, “swirling” could be a swirl, etc. 5. Each group should have between 15 – 20 symbols that will now become their dance vocabulary, and ask them to create shapes and movements to represent each symbol with their bodies. 6. Once they have rehearsed each symbol, their challenge is to choreograph an ensemble movement phrase. They have to add transitions between each symbol, and encourage them to go back to their poster paper and record their choreography as they are developing it. Explain that if they record two symbols side by side, then this means two movements are happening simultaneously by two or more dancers. 7. A volunteer from each group should be a scribe and narrator. Their role is to record the choreography and read the group poem during the performance. They will also act as an outside eye and help their group refine each movement and transition. 8. They should include solos, duets and choral sections into their dance routines, and decide on their starting and ending positions. 9. You can go online to download music from the show (http://wonderlandonbroadway.com/ sounds.html) to accompany their routines, or select music that you feel will compliment their pieces. 10. After rehearsal, invite each group to share their dances with the group and facilitate a reflection session to review new discoveries. What did you find most challenging about creating choreography? How did a dance express your group poem differently from if you read it aloud? How did you decide on the symbols, shapes and transitions as a group? How did creating symbols help you when creating choreography? What did you observe about your classmates’ dance routines? How did Lewis Carroll and his characters inspire these movement pieces? 23
Sources Consulted and Further Resources Books
www.lewiscarroll.org Website of the Lewis Carroll Society of North American provides interesting information on the author, background on the origin of the Alice stories and links to other Wonderland related sites
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865 Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, 1871
www.newvictorytheater.org We would like to acknowledge The New Victory Theater’s education department for the use of selected information and education materials from The New Victory Theater School Toolsm Resource Guides.
The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner, 1960 The Snark Was a Boojum: A Life of Lewis Carroll by James P. Wood, 1966 Very Truly Yours, Charles L. Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll by Lisa Bassett, 1987
Further Viewing Alice in Wonderland (1951): Walt Disney’s classic animated film
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: Nonsense, Sense, and Meaning by Donald Rackin, 1991
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972): Musical film starring Michael Crawford, Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Sir Ralph Richardson
On the Web www.wonderlandthemusical.org Official website of the new musical production which has song clips, list of cast and the creative team, a blog, video interviews and more
Alice at the Palace (1982): Filmed adaptation of the New York Shakespeare’s production directed by Elizabeth Swados, starring Meryl Streep
www.alice-in-wonderland.net Comprehensive source of Wonderland information on the web
Alice in Wonderland (2010) Feature film directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp
www.frankwildhorn.com The composer’s website with biography, discography, and information on upcoming projects
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Answers to Magic Math
8
1
6
15
3
5
7
15
4
9
2
15
15
15
15
15
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