Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has been retold by everyone from Walt Disney to Tim Burton, but that’s not stopping some local performance artists from adapting the classic fairy tale to a comedic Vegas-style burlesque show crossed with musical theatre.
Yes, you read that right.
Cameron Chase is the executive producer behind Vixens of Wonderland, a vivacious two-act spectacle that boasts 15 musical numbers and opens this Friday at Granville Island’s Performance Works. While he can’t give too much away, he promises it’s not your grandmother’s fable.
“We’re trying to do something really different and turn Alice in Wonderland on its head,” he said. “The nice thing about Wonderland is it’s so bizarre that we really can do anything we want onstage.”
Four years ago, Chase founded Concrete Vertigo Productions as his way of getting back into theatre. What started as a one-time burlesque retelling of The Wizard of Oz led to renditions of Peter Pan and a compilation of Brothers Grimm folklore. Now he’s putting on his biggest production, with 30-some cast and crew members taking on the roles of the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and the Evil Red King.
Burnaby burlesque dancer Jacqueline Breakwell is one of those cast members, and she arguably has the best role, prowling across the stage as the Cheshire Cat – but the kooky feline has a slightly different purpose in this script.
“The Cheshire Cat is more like a bounty hunter like Boba Fett,” she said with a laugh. “It’s more of a badass take on the Cheshire Cat – still crazy, but with a mission. She’s a gun for hire, basically.”
Breakwell divulged that the cat appears at inopportune times to spoil the chemistry between two characters, as ordered by the king – but she doesn’t always do what she’s told.
This isn’t Breakwell’s first Concrete Vertigo show. She’s worked with the company on all of its previous productions, portraying Dorothy, Tinkerbell and the Wicked Queen from Snow White in a neo-burlesque style.
“We’re taking these stories that everybody knows, adding pop culture references and pop songs that everybody loves, and we’re still having the classic elements of burlesque and spicing that up,” she said.
“There’s a sense of familiarity to people,” added Chase. “It’s fun to reinvent stuff that you knew growing up and take the audience on that journey.
“It’s almost like an adult panto. Just with a lot more nudity.”
As Chase put it, the actors in Vixens are quadruple threats: “They sing, they act, they dance and they can take their clothes off really, really well.”
While the workload is demanding, for Breakwell, who graduated from Capilano University’s musical theatre program, it’s an opportunity to pair her love of burlesque with her passion for singing.
“If I couldn’t sing, I would die,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve gotten the opportunity to play the lead heroine girl, the kind of bitchy girl, the evil and humorous queen, and this year with the Cheshire Cat, I get to be this inbetween crazier character.
“It’s an amazing outlet for everything I love to do in life – it’s just a great time to escape and entertain.”
As if comedy, striptease and live vocals weren’t enough, both hinted at interactivity with the audience in what Chase described as “super sexy musical dinner theatre.”
The burlesque-infused 19-plus show runs at Performance Works, located at 1218 Cartwright St. in Vancouver, from Aug. 15 to 17, 20 to 24 and 27 to 29 at 8 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $25 ($23 for students) at the door or online at vixensofwonderland.brownpapertickets.com.
(Jump down the rabbit hole and see it for yourself!)
