Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Debuts Joby Talbot’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Collaboration With Bruce Wood Dance Dallas

For more than 150 years, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has captivated fantasy readers, from the hookah-smoking Caterpillar and the grinning Cheshire Cat to the Mad Tea Party and the croquet-playing angry Queen of Hearts. The tale was even more cemented into history in 1951 with Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Today, the story lives on through film and literature, and this month, in the form of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s (FWSO) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — a world premiere at Bass Performance Hall from September 19 through 21.

In this production, ballet dancers from Bruce Wood Dance Dallas join the FWSO to create British composer Joby Talbot’s musical rendition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Talbot composes for the stage and screen, including the recent film Wonka, with Timothée Chalamet.

“In a typical ballet, the dancers take up the entire stage and the orchestra is down in the pit,” Monica Sheehan, director of marketing for the FWSO, tells PaperCity. “In our ‘Theater of a Concert’ productions, like this Alice Suite, the full orchestra is on stage, and we have added an extension to the stage for the dancers. So, the two performing groups share the stage, which is unique to these FWSO productions.”

The orchestra performance is coupled with dancing from Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, a contemporary dance company founded in 2010 by the late, award-winning Texas choreographer Bruce Wood. The company of 14 dancers performs across Texas and the country and has been a member of the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster since 2016.

Talbot is known for his use of odd objects for instrumentation, and this performance is no different.

“This performance includes pots and pans in the percussion section,” Sheehan says. “Regarding costuming, I’ve been told there is a very cool Cheshire Cat head that glows.” Vocals will be performed by the group Conspirare, but it is sound-based, not actual singing/lyrics, Sheehan notes.

The FWSO opens the concert with Mozart’s famous Prague Symphony, named for the wind players of Bohemia for whom Mozart penned the piece. Then, the concert moves into movements involving the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, the croquet match, the Queen of Hearts’ tango, the Cheshire Cat, and more.

An hour before each concert, Bachtales with Buddy allows concertgoers to see principal keyboard Buddy Bray give a pre-concert lecture to dive deeper into the works and their history. Bachtales with Buddy is free for all ticket holders.

Composer Joby Talbot will be in Fort Worth for rehearsals and the concerts, and is taking part in an artist Meet and Greet for FWSO donors.

Tickets can be purchased here.