Ballet Hawaii Announces Alice (In Wonderland)

HONOLULU - July 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Ballet Hawaii is pleased to announce the return of Alice (In Wonderland) at Honolulu's Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall on August 7, 8 and 9, 2015. Renowned choreographer and Washington Ballet Artistic Director Septime Webre will bring the amazing sets, costumes, and most importantly, his very talented principal dancers to perform alongside students from Ballet Hawaii in the mystical, magical fairy tale production for three days only celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Lewis Carroll’s classic story.

Alice (in Wonderland) is a new ballet from the revolutionary vision of Washington Ballet’s Artistic Director, Septime Webre, costume designer Liz Vandal (Cirque du Soleil’s OVO), Set Designer James Kronzer, Lighting Design by Clifton Taylor and composer Matthew Pierce and is a spectacularly reimagined take on Lewis Carroll’s classic story! Enter the magical world of Alice’s adventures, splendidly costumed, and gloriously danced…an unforgettable journey down the rabbit hole and the season’s grandest production! Tickets for this beautiful, riveting production range from $35 to $99 and are on sale now.

Joining principal dancers from the Washington, Cincinnati, Eugene and Carolina Ballets on stage are aspiring young dancers from across Hawaii and the mainland who are currently studying in Ballet Hawaii's Summer Intensive Program.

After thoroughly researching the writing of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Mr. Webre begins his interpretation of ALICE (in wonderland) with the real Alice, Alice Liddell, at home with her chaotic family and family friend, Lewis Carroll, an amateur photographer and storyteller. Mr. Webre incorporates real characters from Alice’s life masked as the characters in Lewis Carroll’s marvelous story about a little girl’s adventures in a wonderland. Alice’s overbearing mother becomes the Queen of Hearts, her sisters become Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and Lewis Carroll becomes the Mad Hatter. Alice is a polite well-mannered child who finds herself in a crazy world where the rules of social etiquette don’t matter and time is irrelevant. Alice learns how to adapt to this crazy world and eventually becomes the heroine that brings down the Queen of Hearts and her house of cards. Mr. Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland) follows the arc of Mr. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass that reveal Mr. Carroll’s wit and love of puns…snapdragon, rocking horse and bread and butter flies. Mr. Webre has worked closely with composer, Matthew Pierce, to give each character its own unique sound. The musical score also includes musical sound effects that will pull the audience down the rabbit hole with Alice.

Go down the rabbit hole at the Wonderland Tea Party at Mariposa in Neiman Marcus on Sunday, August 2nd at 3:30pm. This event package includes Tea, a VIP performance seat (choice of dates) and parking at NBC. Prices are $135 for children and $150 for adults. The Alice VIP Opening Night Dinner Package at STAGE Restaurant is on Friday, August 7th at 5:15pm and includes Dinner, a VIP performance seat and reserved parking at NBC. The price is $165. To make reservations call 521-8600, ext 4.

Ticket and event information is available from the Blaisdell Box Office located at 777 Ward Avenue during regular box office hours; Monday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Tickets are on sale now at www.ticketmaster.com.

For more information call (808) 521-8600 or visit www.ballethawaii.org.

About Ballet Hawaii

Ballet Hawaii is currently celebrating 39 years in the community with two locations on South Hotel Street in Honolulu and in West Oahu and has been enriching Hawaii's cultural environment by teaching, promoting, presenting, and producing dance since 1976. Classes are focused on building self-confidence through accomplishment, while its presentations of world-class performances provide the community with the priceless gift of professional quality dance. In addition to a year-round training program offered at facilities in Honolulu and Waipahu, Ballet Hawaii also offers a three-week Summer Intensive session. Featuring teachers from the international dance community and Washington Ballet, this year’s Summer Intensive culminates with the presentation of Septime Webre’s innovative production of Alice (IN WONDERLAND). Each year, Ballet Hawaii also stages a magical Nutcracker performance that shines the spotlight on a cast of more than 200 dancers from across Hawaii, as well as mainland companies such as New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

Ballet Hawaii extends its warmest thanks and aloha to its sponsors Starwood Hotels & Resorts Waikiki and the Honolulu Star Advertiser. Production sponsors include Pasha Hawaii, the Mayor’s Office on Culture and the Arts, and Naish Hawaii, with additional funding provided by the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.