#PickoftheWeek | Music + Art! LIC gallery presents quirky version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’
BY QEDC It's In Queens
It’s a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” presented in a mini-museum, and the audience watches while mixing with works of art.
The Plaxall Gallery will present “Painted Alice” six times from April 19 to April 28.
Written by William Donnelly and Michael Mahler, the roughly two-hour satire follows an artist struggling with painter’s block after getting her first commission. (You know, it’s like writer’s block, but visual.) Alice gets in a bit of a tiff with her boyfriend and falls through her canvas. Next stop is a wonderland with self-indulgent, wacky artists who help her answer the question: “Does domestic bliss cause artistic death?”
It’s kind of like the Mad Hatters party.
That’s only part of the quirky fun. “Painted Alice” unfolds inside Plaxall Gallery, which is currently displaying “DRINK ME TASTE ME: an Exhibition of Curious Things.” Curated by Norma Homberg, the show features artwork based on the traditional Alice tale with the rabbit hole and anthropomorphic creatures.
Is it music? Is it art? Is it theater? Is it story-telling? It’s “Painted Alice.”
Tickets prices run from $20 to $45. Showtimes are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 8 pm.
LIC Artists, a nonprofit arts-advocacy group founded in 1986, presents the work via a collaboration with Greg Schaffert, who produced the Tony Award-winning Broadway play “Peter And The Starcatcher.” Two other Broadway veterans, director Jenn Rapp and musical director Conor Keelan, are also involved. Tana Sirois, who is Plaxall Gallery’s Performing Arts Director, plays Alice. The rest of the cast includes Adam McDonald, Molly Kelleher, Meghan Ginley, Neal Davidson, Jamie Shapiro, and Craig Anderson.
Plaxall Gallery is located at 5-25 46th Ave. in Long Island City.
Editor’s note: “DRINK ME, TASTE ME” is on view through May 12. The gallery hours are Thursdays from 6 pm to 10 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 pm.
Images: Painted Alice and Plaxall Gallery