Lewis Carroll Society of North America

Parallel Alices: Alice Goes All Medieval

andrew — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:18:15 +0000

Parallel Alices: Alice through the Looking-Glass of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christopher Tyler, a visual psychophysicist and the creator of the autostereogram (“Magic Eye” pictures), is an erudite yet approachable and very well designed look at the pervasive mediaeval themes throughout the Alice books, focusing on the remarkable parallels between the travails of the fictional Alice and a historical Alice who lived in the time of the knights and castles, duchesses, and chess games that figure so largely in the narrative. The earlier Alice of the Vexin spent her life as a trading pawn of the monarchs of England and France, a lost soul on the checkerboard of twelfth-century territorial intrigues. A daughter of Louis VII of France, for much of her life she was held hostage by the Plantagenet court, successively held as a bargaining chip by Queen Eleanor and Kings Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and John. To order or investigate further, visit parallelalices.com.

Peter and Alice (and Dame Judi and Ben)

andrew — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:15:24 +0000

Playwright (Red) and screenwriter (Skyfall, Hugo, Sweeney Todd, etc.) John Logan has written a new play inspired by the fact that in 1932, Alice Liddell Hargreaves met Peter Llewelyn Davies, the inspiration for Peter Pan, at the Bumpus bookshop in London as part of a centenary tribute to Carroll. Logan wondered what the two immortal inspirations might have said to each other. Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw play the leads; it is directed by Michael Grandage and currently playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London. More information can be found on LCSNA member Cathy Rubin’s blog by clicking here.

New Alice-Themed Music Project

andrew — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:13:58 +0000

We’ve just received the following note about a new indie music effort and Indiegogo campaign:

I’m writing because my band is recording an album of poem-song adaptations from “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” We’ve already recorded half the tracks, and we launched an Indiegogo album pre-sale campaign on May 4th to raise the funds needed cover the costs of additional recording, mixing, mastering, and duplication. Our album, “Contrariwise,” will be released on November 4th. I hope you’ll consider posting a link to our Indiegogo page, where we have a letter describing the project in more detail, as well as a 4 minute video that includes snippets fromrough demos of our versions of “Jabberwocky,” “Beautiful Soup,” “Queen Alice,” and others:http://igg.me/at/Contrariwise

If you’re into Alice-themed music, you might want to check it out!

Mushroom Flash Drive

andrew — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:56:11 +0000

From the “just when you thought you’d seen it all” department, along with the “Gee, I just don’t know what to do with this $36K burning a whole in my expensive pants pocket” department, comes this costly bauble: a diamond-studded mushroom charm that houses a 32 gigabyte flash drive. The designer claims the look was “inspired by the classic novel Alice in Wonderland.” We couldn’t make this stuff up. But someone did–and they’re selling it. To see for yourself, or if you’re looking for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift for that special someone, click here.

Historic Hotels Claiming a Carrollian Connection

andrew — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:45:22 +0000

This site, Nights in the Past, bills itself as “the online guide to historic hotels and accommodation in the UK, Europe and USA.” It lists two establishments claiming associations with our Mr. Dodgson: The Old Deanery in Ripon, Yorkshire, and The Ravensworth Arms in Lamesley. The first claim is slight (Mr. Dodgon’s father was appointed Canon of Ripon Cathedral at one point, before moving up again shortly thereafter to Archdeacon at Richmond). As to the Ravensworth Arms, it’s true that Alice Liddell’s father was descended from the Barony of Ravensworth, but there the connections with Mr. Dodgson begin and end as far as we know. The latter claim, judging by the advertising copy on the Ravensworth Arms’ web site, is based entirely on anonymous “suggestions” that Mr. Dodgson stayed there and even wrote some of a certain book there. We can only suggest that such claims might well be considered nonsense (and not of the good kind). Someone should make a list of all the different places claiming that Mr. Dodgson “might have written” some or all of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on their premises. Impenetrability!

“In Wonderland” Kickstarter Project

andrew — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:58:31 +0000

At our recent Winston-Salem meeting, we heard briefly from Ms. Amber Adams, a choreographer and dancer hoping to raise funds to finance a physical theatre program based on “Alice in Wonderland” in Wilmington, NC. As always, we make no comment or endorsement of anything we post per se; we just like to keep you informed!

You can read about it by clicking here.

Camille Rose Garcia and Mary Blair Exhibit at Disney Family Museum

andrew — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:09:21 +0000

Attention lovers of Carroll/Alice-themed art! We have just learned of the following exhibit, opening May 9th. If you attend, drop us a line and let us know what you thought!

Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole
Walt Disney Family Museum
San Francisco, California
May 9–November 3, 2013

This exhibition will feature two very different artists who have contributed to the canon of Alice illustration: Mary Blair and Camille Rose Garcia. Color stylist and designer Mary Blair helped introduce modern art to Walt Disney and his studio, and worked with him for nearly 30 years. Ten of her concept paintings for the 1951 Alice in Wonderland animated film will be on display. Juxtapozed (the spelling is intentional to reflect the sponsor of the exhibit) with this are 40 drawings by Camille Rose Garcia from her illustrated Wonderland in 2010. “With her conscious disregard for perspective or scale in her compositions, Garcia creates a fresh and contemporary depiction of the dreamlike story. Her illustrations not only draw from a Goth sensibility, but also the thriving ‘low-brow art’ movement in Los Angeles and its references to classic cartoons, 60’s TV sitcoms, rock music, and comic books.” Further information at http://www.waltdisney.org/garcia.

A Jabberwocky for the Computer Programming Age

andrew — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:51:18 +0000

Today, we received this note and clever riff on Lewis Carroll’s famous poem Jabberwocky, from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Thank you, Austin Dixon, for sharing this with everyone! Readers: if you enjoy it, please post a comment here to let Austin know you appreciate his efforts. Thanks! Now, we just need someone to write a version as a Monty Python script.

I would like to submit this Jabberwocky parody for your consideration. It’s what Jabberwocky would look like if it were a Python Script. I wrote this myself, and I give you the right to use it on your site if you wish. Just include my name if you do. Thanks.

def jabberWocky (brillig, toves, slithey, gyre, gimble, borogroves, mimsey, in_grabe, out_grabe, mome):

while (brillig == True) AND (toves == slithy):

wabe = toves * (gyre + gimble)

return wabe

if (borogroves != mimsy):

mome.raths = in_grabe

momeStatus = mome.raths

print (“Status for Mome Raths is”, momeStatus)

else:

mome.raths = out_grabe

momeStatus = mome.raths

print (“Status for Mome Raths is”, momeStatus)

A New Theatrical Snark Sighting in Chicago

andrew — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:55:45 +0000

Apologies that we haven’t made a new post in a while. We have been off hunting Snarks–unsuccessfully, which may be just as well. Today, as Fate would have it, we received this very civilized note:

Dear Lewis Carroll Society

My name is Josh Sobel and I am Literary Manager for Chicago’s Strawdog Theatre Company. I hope this email finds you well! I noticed that you had posted information about the last time a Chicago theatre company had adapted Carroll for the stage, with the opera BOOJUM!

As it turns out, the Snark has found its way to Chicago once again – I am directing an environmental, ensemble-based adaptation of the poem THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK with Strawdog, taking place in our Hugen Hall space (essentially our pub) and utilizing the actual text of the poem itself in inventive and unexpected ways.

We have gathered 12 brilliant Chicago actors and have been working to bring the story to life in a minimalist, highly imaginative style, an almost pub-theatre approach engaging directly with the audience to open up their imaginations to the magic of this journey.

Thank you very much for your time! All the best, Josh Sobel

Their enclosed press release includes the following details:

Performances: May 6 – May 28 at Strawdog Theatre Hugen Hall, 3829 North Broadway Street. The performance schedule is Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m.; May 20 and 21 performances are at 9 p.m. Opening/Press Night is Monday, May 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

Based on the classic Lewis Carroll poem, The Hunting Of The Snark, is a family friendly show inviting its guests to come aboard for a tall tale of mischief and mayhem, of high sea hijinks and impossible voyages, of an improbable crew and an extraordinary task, of an inconceivable creature in a peculiar land, and of the unquenchable thirst for adventure. A design and ensemble-based piece mixing theatrical influences from Chicago and around theworld; Strawdog stretches, flexes, trips over a ladder and treats the audience to a hilarious and touching take on one of the world’s best loved poems.

If you attend this production, please email us a 1-2 paragraph write-up that we can share on this blog!

And here’s a video teaser they’ve just released:

Rare BBC Alice Productions Now Available on DVD

Rachel Eley — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:00:06 +0000

Warner Home Video and BBC America have teamed up to release two Alice in Wonderland rarities on DVD. The first is the BBC’s 1986 production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland staring Kate Dorning as Alice, originally broadcast as a weekly series of four 30-minute episodes. The second is the 1973 production of Alice Through the Looking-Glass with Sarah Sutton as Alice. You can be sure you won’t find either of these on your local video streaming service. Both can be purchased from the BBC America Shop and are currently listed at a special “new release price” of $15.98. See below for links.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1986) — on IMDB, on BBC America Shop

Alice Through the Looking-Glass (1973) — on IMDB, on BBC America Shop