LEAVE WELL ALONE

The title of a previous blog… BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING… “, is a quote from ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland’ – “Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

Occasionally, I am asked if I have a script for a pantomime version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The answer is in the negative… and it always will be! I tend to concur with the author, Sir Walter Besant, who at the end of the 19^th century expressed an opinion that “Alice in Wonderland… was a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete". For me, it is sacrosanct. Anyone tampering with it should be hung by the arms in the yard!

Recently, whilst searching YouTube, I accidently happened upon an arty-smarty Broadway stage presentation "based" on Lewis Carroll’s classic. The clip is introduced by the female choreographer who speaks with that whiny nasal delivery, which appears to be de rigueur for dame Yankees these days. She informs us… “I’d like to… you know… work in commercials, TV, films, Broadway, and… errr… you know… my next dream is to direct Broadway shows.”

Thank you! Don’t ring us… and we won’t ring you!

There follows some so-called musical numbers that were obviously devised by a load of luvvies, all of whom had both feet firmly planted in the air.

I haven’t seen the show, but according to one reviewer “…the fanciful figures of the Carroll books are transformed into groovy, multiethnic contemporary equivalents.” Oh dear!

From the brief clips, my impression was that this offering was grandiose guano.

Here’s the good news… the “multi-million dollar musical” closed after having played only 31 previews and 33 regular performances.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus!

I haven’t seen the 2010, Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films Production, Team Todd Production, Zanuck Company Production, of ‘Alice In Wonderland’ either. However, looking at the images, I can’t see how I can possibly take seriously, a Mad Hatter, played by Johnny Depp, looking as if he has just had his face painted at the local village Summer Fair.

The proverb, “A pretty face and fine clothes do not make character.” would seem appropriate here.

To quote one ‘user review’, “Everything that makes Lewis Carroll Lewis Carroll has been leached out of this movie.”

If anyone wants to see how to make films, using the medium as it should be used, and without having to resort to computer-generated imagery, see CLASS ACT #5 below.

Two other classics I would never consider converting to pantomimes are ‘Peter Pan’, and ‘Treasure Island’.

CLASS ACT #5

‘Lemonade Joe’ (complete name in Czech ‘Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera’), is a Czechoslovak film from 1964, directed by Oldřich Lipský and written by Jiří Brdečka, based on his own novel and theatre play.

Squeaky-clean Joe is a straight-shootin’ gunfighter who drinks only lemonade, and takes on a town full of whisky-swigging hombres.

It satirises the American Western genre, parodies the old silent westerns, and pays homage to animated cartoons, with colour tinting, and speeded-up fight scenes.

Made under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, I would guess it cost considerably less than the average Hollywood film of the time.

‘Lemonade Joe’ became a cult classic in Czechoslovakia, and apparently Henry Fonda was amongst its foreign admirers. Henry Fonda and me!

There is some relevance to the subject of pantomimes, not only with the characterisations, the slapstick, the musical numbers, the costumes, and the set designs, but the fact that G. Wizz has a Wild West panto almost complete. Watch this space!