Truro’s young BOOM cast tackle a rarely seen Wonderland musical

Alice has grown up. She has a husband, a daughter and a life that is getting on top of her. And this week she falls down the rabbit hole again, this time on a stage in Truro.

A cast of some of the most talented young performers from across Cornwall open Wonderland the Musical today (Saturday 24 October) at The Ode, the concert hall at Truro School. BOOM Theatre‘s production runs until Tuesday 27 October and is one of only a small number of amateur stagings of the show currently taking place in the UK.

A musical few amateur companies have staged

Written by Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy, Wonderland the Musical has only recently been released for amateur licensing. Around a dozen licences have been issued nationally so far, which makes BOOM’s version a rare chance to see the show performed by an amateur company.

It has also recently toured the UK professionally, with West End stars Kerry Ellis and Natalie McQueen alongside TV star Wendi Peters. Wendi has sent a congratulations message to the young Cornish cast.

📷Credit: Thomas Hare Photography

Not quite the Alice you remember

This is a contemporary take inspired by Lewis Carroll’s much-loved stories. Alice is an adult, married to Jack, and struggling to balance the pressures of real life.

When her young daughter Chloe wanders into Wonderland, Alice follows. What she finds is a strange and unpredictable world of eccentric characters, powerful rulers and mysterious creatures, caught up in a battle between good and evil.

The characters include Alice, Jack/The White Knight, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, El Gato, the Caterpillar, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, plus a host of fantastical Wonderland creatures.

Young performers, professional creatives

The cast are working with an experienced professional creative team: director Will Luckett, choreographer Philip Joel and musical director Richard Healey. Between them, their careers span local, regional, West End and international productions.

For BOOM Theatre, the idea is to give young people in Cornwall a taste of the standards and expectations of a professional production, while building their skills and confidence.

A spokesperson for BOOM Theatre said: “We wanted to give our young performers the opportunity to be part of something really ambitious, a production that challenges them creatively and musically, while giving them an experience that feels as close as possible to working in the professional theatre industry.

“The cast have worked incredibly hard and the opening performance today is looking spectacular. Wonderland is visually exciting, musically challenging, and full of characters that our young people have really thrown themselves into.”

📷Credit: Thomas Hare Photography

A 75-hour rabbit

Much of the world on stage has been made by the BOOM community itself. Young people, families and volunteers have worked on the costumes, props, wigs and make-up.

Cast member Quinn Brewer made several of the wigs. One of them, the White Rabbit’s, took around 75 hours to create.

BOOM Theatre is a not-for-profit youth theatre company. It was set up to give young people in Cornwall access to high-quality, industry-led performing arts opportunities, while keeping participation as accessible as possible for families.

Performance dates and times

BOOM Theatre’s Wonderland the Musical runs at Truro School Concert Hall:

• Saturday 24 October, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
• Sunday 25 October, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
• Monday 26 October, 7.30pm
• Tuesday 27 October, 7.30pm

Tickets are available from boomtheatre.uk.

📷Credit: Thomas Hare Photography