For the first time in five years, the Undergraduate Theater Collective put on an open-cast musical — “Alice By Heart.” Anyone who auditioned was guaranteed to at least be in the ensemble, which lowers the initial stakes and creates a fun way for people to get involved in musical theater on campus. “Alice By Heart” was a great choice for the return of open-cast. The musical has a wacky yet deep story, following Alice Spencer — played by Erin Morton ’29 — as she attempts to comfort her dying friend, Alfred — played by Tessa Srebnik ’29 — by retelling “Alice in Wonderland” as they hide in a bunker during a Blitz in England. Of course, as with any story a person recites by heart, parts are skipped or altered, and all the characters from Wonderland become quite upset as their world gets altered by this retelling. Through impossibly fast costume changes, mystical lighting, a set that merged reality with wonderland and an excited cast, it did not take long for the audience to go down the rabbit hole and forget about reality for a moment.

Morton gave a stupendous performance as Alice. Her singing and acting grounded every scene, and she filled every moment with natural reactions, even when she was not the primary character speaking. Her desperation to stay in the fantasy world where Alfred was not dying came across clearly, but Morton did a good job of adding other layers to her character as well. Srebnik’s Alfred contrasted nicely with Alice, with the character accepting the inevitability of his death and trying to get Alice to do the same. Whenever Srebnik shared the stage with Morton, the two had an excellent dynamic and exquisite harmonies, which made it easy for the audience to sympathize with Alice’s desire to stay on the pages with the White Rabbit — who was also Alfred — and not move on with the story.

Another notable performance was that of Isla Edwards ’28 as the Mad Hatter. Edwards took every opportunity to use physical comedy and capture the audience’s eyes. From the moment Edwards walked on stage as Harold Pudding, she chose a distinctly off-putting walk and put her all into it. During the tea party scene, where Alfred is convincing Alice to let go and move on with the story, Edwards jumped onto and off of the table, walked around and laughed maniacally, simultaneously making the audience laugh and feel a little uncomfortable. Along with the Hatter, Alfred and Alice, Patrick White ’29 played the Dormouse at the tea party. White had several funny one-liners throughout the show and he received many laughs from the audience for his commitment to every joke.  

Hannah Chuh ’29 brought the mysterious and helpful Cheshire Cat to life with a calm performance that brought the show back to Earth, gently supporting Alice through the realization that time is an unstoppable force. Chuh’s singing during the Cheshire Cat’s solo was wonderful, and reverted the otherwise fast-paced show to a more relaxed speed. Chuh also brought out a more devious character when she played a part of the caterpillar with Emily Caissie ’28. Caissie and Chuh brought the conniving caterpillar to life, convincing Alice that the best way to stop time was to puff some shrooms. The caterpillar’s song was the moment it became clear “Alice By Heart” may go on a different journey than “Wonderland,” and the pair’s interactions with Alice were both funny and foreboding. Cassie also hit and held a stunning high note during one of the later songs, causing the entire audience to cheer. On the more dramatic end of characters, Adam Wolf ’29 as The Duchess was hysterical, with a killer monologue that left everyone in the audience howling. He crafted a character that seemed to understand Alice’s troubles while holding nothing but disdain for her, which was very entertaining to watch.

Wonderland’s royalty was phenomenal. Natalie Espinal-Reyes ’28 took on the role of the Queen of Diamonds, with some great one-liners and moments interacting with other characters that really made her character feel alive. Cole Simmons ’26 played a multitude of roles in the show, including the King of Hearts, the Mock Turtle and the Doctor. Simmons did an excellent job differentiating his characters, bringing different levels of energy to each part. 

Unfortunately, on the night when I was able to attend “Alice By Heart,” Juliahna Falciglia-Mattes ’28 had unexpectedly come down with a fever and was unable to perform the critical role of the Queen of Hearts — Wonderland’s head-hunting villain. I was disappointed I did not have the chance to see Falciglia-Mattes’ performance, as everything I have heard from both people who saw the show on other days and people close to the production was that she was phenomenal. The Queen of Hearts song during the trial scene near the end of the show is one of the most lively and captivating of the entire performance, and from what others have said, I am sure that Falciglia-Mattes met the challenge with grace and the necessary power to make the scene memorable. In the production I saw, however, co-directors Franny Gindi-Chiafullo ’28 and Jae Fioribello ’28 took the role and split it in half, with Gindi-Chiafullo taking on some of the ensemble scenes and the Red Cross Nurse and Fioribello playing the Queen of Hearts. The co-directors smoothly took over the parts, and after the show I heard audience members asking who had filled in for Falciglia-Mattes, showing how seamless the substitution was. Both directors were practically off-book for their scenes, with Gindi-Chiafullo performing the Red Cross Nurse and Fioribello singing the trial song as though they had each been rehearsing the parts for weeks on end.

“Alice By Heart” only works because of its ensemble. Many of the named characters, plus a few smaller parts — played by Mei Wang ’29, Natalie Lewis ’29, Ava Schaul ’26 and Daniel Liang ’28, along with what seemed like 100 costume changes for the said characters — put the final touches into bringing Wonderland to life. The cohesion of the ensemble during dances and scenes showed how much fun everyone involved seemed to be having on stage, which made the show more fun for the audience as well.

There were some rougher parts to the show as well, with my biggest complaint being the audibility of the cast. Unfortunately, it was difficult to hear the words being sung over the pit band for the majority of the show. As superb as the music was, enough of the words were lost and muddled that the first half of the show felt disconnected, as the audience lost track of what they were being told. However, by the trial scene and the ending of the show, the leveling had mostly been adjusted and the critical parts were clearly audible. The return of an open cast musical was a hit — people poured into the audience to see a great cast bring to life a world unlike our own, distracting us from some of the challenges of day-to-day life. Between the acting, the unique set, outstanding costumes and enchanting songs, “Alice By Heart” was a strong return for the open-cast and a wildly entertaining show.