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In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the titular character famously meets the Queen of Hearts. But some have speculated that in real life, Alice might have given her heart to a prince.
“‘Alice in Wonderland’ was a real person, even though ‘Wonderland’ may not have been real,” said writer Mark Saltzman, whose musical “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland” is part of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s New Works Festival as a staged reading.
It all started on a boat ride one golden summer day, when young Alice Liddell listened to Charles Dodgson spin a story about a curious little girl – also named Alice – who falls down a rabbit hole and meets a host of extraordinary creatures. The published version of that tale, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll (Dodgson’s pen name), went on to become one of the most beloved classics in all of children’s literature, leaving Liddell associated with its protagonist forevermore.
“What does that do to a young woman?” Saltzman wondered about Liddell’s experience as an inadvertent celebrity. “You walk in a room and everyone’s pointing; they know who you are and you’ve done nothing but sat in a rowboat one day and had a story told to you.”
Liddell’s father was the dean of Christ Church, part of the University of Oxford. In 1872, the intellectual Prince Leopold — youngest son of Queen Victoria — came to study there. He became acquainted with the dean’s daughter, and it’s been rumored that they may have even embarked on a secret romance. In “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland,” that possibility is explored on stage.
“They did have a relationship – how deep, how far it went, this is my speculation on what that might have looked like,” Saltzman said. “It’s partly what I think had happened, partly what I wished would have happened.”
Liddell, literary-muse status notwithstanding, would likely not have been considered a suitable consort for a prince, so their budding romance, if it happened, would have been kept quiet.
“This is just the kind of thing the monarchy would try to repress,” Saltzman noted. There are clues, however, such as a record of a boat outing by the pair.
“On one hand, there’s a sort of almost Disney fairytale romance – it’s a young woman falling in love with the prince,” Saltzman said of the story. On the other hand, it’s not smooth sailing for a commoner dallying with an eligible royal. Saltzman was inspired to write the show when the former actress Meghan Markle (now the Duchess of Sussex) first made headlines for her romance with Prince Harry (Queen Victoria’s descendent).
“When Harry and Meghan had their romance and people had to fill the airwaves 24/7, some newsperson mentioned the history of the royal family and celebrities. Somebody had mentioned Prince Leopold: ‘Well, the real Alice of “Alice in Wonderland” was his girlfriend,'” Saltzman recalled hearing. A longtime “Alice” fan, he was fascinated by the connection and soon was diving into the topic.
“How did they connect? What do these two people have in common? What were the forces that were keeping them apart?” he pondered.
In “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland,” a six-person cast brings Liddell and Prince Leopold’s world to life, including through a cappella songs.
“Musicals are close to my heart,” Saltzman said. While he was researching the show, he was especially delighted to find out that the prince had joined one of the university glee clubs. He decided to build that collegiate glee club sound and Oxford atmosphere into the show, with vocal arrangements by Jack Lipson.
“Lewis Carroll, or the universe, or something handed that to me – there’s a glee club! It was very fortuitous that that was an historical fact,” he said.
Another beloved “Wonderland” character made its way into his play – the haughty, hookah-smoking caterpillar. Saltzman thought that Liddell might, in her head, seek his imagined advice.
“The caterpillar seemed the most Oxford in attitude, that ‘Who are you?’ attitude,” he said.
Saltzman has plenty of experience working with interesting characters. He’s had a long, acclaimed career, not only writing for the stage but for film and television as well. He won seven Emmy Awards for his work on “Sesame Street” in the 1980s and ’90s, an experience he called an honor, and one he always carries with him.
“‘Sesame Street’ influenced everything that I ever wrote afterwards – it’s the hardest writing I ever did,” he said fondly, explaining that the scripts needed to be educational, sensitive and humorous, appealing to both young children and adults. He credits the show with helping teach him elements of successful sketch comedy and songwriting, and is grateful he got to work with the late “Muppets” creator Jim Henson.
“That was an extremely powerful kind of mentor to have,” he said.
Saltzman’s “Sesame Street” work continues to have relevance, in sometimes surprising ways. In the early 1990s, he was the writer of the show’s 25th anniversary special.
“The plotline was that Sesame Street was going to be torn down by the evil developer ‘Ronald Grump,’ played by Joe Pesci. Who knew how prescient we were?” Saltzman said with a laugh.
He loves that his “Sesame Street” songs continue to bring joy to children, including his personal favorite, “Caribbean Amphibian” (sung by Kermit the Frog, naturally).
Anytime that tune resurfaces, he said, “I’m smiling all day.”
Theatreworks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli first saw an early incarnation of “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland” years ago and, charmed by what she called “a beautiful coming-of-age-story,” has been following it ever since. She thought she’d missed out on bringing it to the New Works Festival when it had a premiere in Santa Barbara last year, but it’s now in a new form, as Saltzman has streamlined the show from two acts to a “movie-length” one in order to improve the pacing (he’s also developing a screenplay for a film version, led by producer Tom Lynch).
“Often what happens is, especially with a new musical, you really learn what you want to change, and what you need to change, after you get that first show,” Sardelli said.
This will be Saltzman’s first time working with TheatreWorks and he is looking forward to seeing how local festival attendees respond to the show – especially any young folks in the audience. Performances of “Alice, Formerly of Wonderland” run Aug. 9 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 16 at 3 p.m., and Sardelli herself is directing the staged reading.
Saltzman isn’t the only award winner included in this year’s festival, which offers audiences the chance to see projects in various phases of creation.
First up are two special events: The Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Robert Schenkkan, in collaboration with Peacedale Global Arts and Portuguese theater company mala voadora and its artistic director Jorge Andrade, is presenting “Old Cock,” a political satire involving Portugal’s fabled Rooster of Barcelos (July 25, 26 and 29 at 7:30 p.m.; July 27 at 7 p.m.), and “Motion/Capture,” a Frankenstein-inspired tale about an actor losing himself in a digital production (July 28 at 7 p.m.).
Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the Olivier Award-winning couple behind “Come From Away,” which TheatreWorks will present next year, are workshopping a new musical: “Vienna” (Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 17 at 3 p.m.), about a group of characters in the same place at three different moments in time.
“They haven’t finished writing that piece, so it’s in the earliest stages of development,” Sardelli said, noting the vulnerability involved when artists share works in progress. “I was so thrilled when they thought of us and our community as a safe place to make art.”
The festival also includes a readings of a new musical by The Kilbanes (the team of Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses) and Patricia Cotter: “The Bridge,” about Emily and Washington Roebling, their partnership and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge (Aug. 10 at 3 p.m., Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.); “malcreados,” by christopher oscar peña, about estranged brothers who come back together when their mother passes away (Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 16 at noon); and the workplace comedy “The Employee Dharma Handbook” by Bay Area playwright (and TheatreWorks-commissioned artist) Geetha Reddy, about tensions and cultural biases in an aerospace company (Aug. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 17 at noon). Plus, there will be an Aug. 8 reception and presentation of excerpts of plays by TheatreWorks’ Susan Fairbrook Core Writers Group (reception at 6 p.m., presentation at 7:30 p.m.).
Sardelli said she’s proud of TheatreWorks’ ongoing commitment to nurturing new works, and this year’s international representation.
“I think this festival is special for its reach,” she said. “I cannot wait to see how this new festival feels.”
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s New Works Festival, July 25-Aug. 17, Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto; see online for tickets and complete schedule; theatreworks.org/new-works/nwf.
This story was clarified/corrected to state that Prince Harry is a descendent of Queen Victoria.
