Fall into land of dreams with Lone Star Ballet's 'Alice in Wonderland'

Lone Star Ballet (LSB) invites you to explore dreams with their latest production, "Alice in Wonderland," to be held at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts on Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.

LSB pulls out all the stops for this spring ballet, including a live symphony in partnership with the West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) music department and fully digital backdrops allowing for more dreamlike, seamless transitions in the telling of the story based on the Lewis Carroll children's classic.

According to Jeffery A. Smith, lighting and background designer for "Alice in Wonderland," the performance includes more backgrounds than could be physically held on stage at the Globe-News Center. Instead, the backgrounds will be projected onto the stage, allowing for more diversity in scenery and flexibility to create dreamlike views.

"With this, we can go anywhere we want to go and can make it look like places that don't actually exist; we literally animate the background. For instance, we show Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and the whole background becomes animated just like a movie. This way allows the audience to view, firsthand, Alice travel down the rabbit hole, and fall with her into the story," Smith said.

"The Lone Star Ballet is the top of production quality here in the Panhandle. ... Come and see; you will be blown away, especially if you are in the Panhandle," Smith added. "Give it a chance; you will be surprised that you might really be blown away by it. You will be impressed even if you have seen shows at the level of professionalism and what the Lone Star Ballet does."

This is the WTAMU symphony orchestra's first collaboration with LSB. Dr. Mark Bartley, who is conducting the orchestra, said that the production will feature a new original piece composed by Dr. BJ Brooks in collaboration with director Lynn Hart's interpretation of the story.

"To prepare a new piece that is very exciting, we're not just a museum where we try out the old pieces that everybody loves, but we are still living and breathing and bringing new stuff to life. All that is part of what makes community musicians so satisfying," Bartley said.

"It is a huge piece, two hours' and a half worth of music with an intermission in the middle, so there are a bunch of great themes in there — the Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee," Bartley added. "It's very cinematically written. We know right away who we are embodying based on how the music sounds. There is no mystery because it's written so well."

Eden Holmes, portraying Alice, spoke about her return to the spotlight after playing "Clara" in the 2019 "Nutcracker" production and the excitement she feels to perform with all new costumes, live music, and moving, colorful backdrops.

"This is really exciting because I feel like I have grown as a dancer since 2019, and I get to take all those things I've learned and apply it to this role and show how far I have come," Holmes said. "'Alice in Wonderland' is about escaping reality, and I hope with my performance, I can help the audience feel away from the world, even if it's just for those two acts."

"I am excited to have live music," Holmes added. "I think it brings the best performances out of all of us dancers, and the backdrops and costumes help add the dreamlike visuals that will hopefully draw the audience more into the story."

"Alice in Wonderland" will be performed Friday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 15 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online for purchase at https://www.panhandletickets.com/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/25754/1279?selcat=23 .

For more information about LSB, visit them online at https://lonestarballet.org/ .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Lone Star Ballet's 'Alice in Wonderland' explores land of dreams