Damon Albarn announces new musical wonder.land, a reinterpretation of Alice In Wonderland
Blur frontman Damon Albarn has announced his debut musical wonder.land, set to begin at the Manchester International Festival in November.
Albarn's already dabbled in musical theatre, scoring an opera called Dr. Dee, but this will mark the first time he's hosted one himself.
The story is a modern reinterpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland, and a blurb for the show gives a brief synopsis:
"Aly, 12, loves this extraordinary virtual world. Bullied at school and unhappy at home, wonder.land lets her escape from her parents, from teachers, from herself. Online, Aly becomes Alice: brave, beautiful and in control. But some of the people she meets – the weird Dum and Dee, the creepy Cheshire Cat, the terrifying Red Queen – seem strangely familiar. As hard as Aly tries to keep them apart, real life and wonder.land begin to collide in ever more curious and dangerous ways."
Albarn will score the musical, with the book and lyrics provided by Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe, Handbagged), and 59 Productions (the team behind War Horse's design) are on hand to create the projections. Rufus Norris will direct.
Shows are currently scheduled until at least 2016. More information can be found here.
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