Vogue.com goes down the rabbit hole of the National Ballet of Canada’s production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, presented by the Joyce Theater.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell1/20Five-minute call to dress rehearsal, stage right.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell2/20Costs of the production—rumored to be nearly $2 million—were split by the Royal Ballet, which premiered the production in London, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Joyce Theater.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell3/20Dylan Tedaldi plays the White Rabbit in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll at the garden party above ground.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell4/20“It’s difficult, in terms of stamina,” Jillian Vanstone says about her role, which sees Alice onstage for the majority of the almost three-hour performance and includes as much acting (and pantomime) as dancing.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell5/20Bob Crowley oversaw design of the theatrical extravaganza, including these wigs prepared for Greta Hodgkinson, who plays the Queen of Hearts (and Alice’s mother when above ground).
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Photographed by Taylor Jewell6/20Vanstone wrapping her pointe shoes in the Koch Theater rehearsal room, moments before the show begins.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell7/20A butler practices a brisé on opening night.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell8/20Guillaume Côté, a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada who has performed next door at the Metropolitan Opera House with the American Ballet Theatre, played the Knave of Hearts in this updated production.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell9/20The first entrance of the Queen of Hearts.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell10/20The Knave prepares for his entrance.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell11/20The Fish and Frog Footmen are two characters often overlooked in recent adaptations of the Lewis Carroll book, but brought back to life by Wheeldon and Joby Talbot, who wrote the score.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell12/20More wigs, these for the flamingos that the Queen infamously uses as croquet mallets.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell13/20Late, for a very important date.
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Photographed by Taylor Jewell14/20While Alice and the Knave dance a pas de deux, the Cheshire Cat awaits his cue backstage.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell15/20While Alice remains on stage throughout the production, Côté's character appears intermittently, meaning that he has to keep his muscles warm offstage throughout the nearly three-hour production.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell16/20Dancers both male and female are trained in stage makeup still apply it themselves.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell17/20Stunning lighting design by Natasha Katz.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell18/20Each character in Wonderland has a counterpart above ground. The Queen of Hearts' henchmen are Alice's mother's butlers at the family home in Oxfordshire.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell19/20Footman in Oxford, but a fish in Wonderland.
Photographed by Taylor Jewell20/20The Joyce Theater is responsible for bringing Alice to the Koch Theater, where the run continues through the weekend.
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