Alice by Heart: The Musical, the Novel, and the Mental Gymnastics Required to Process It

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Күн бұрын

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@elle-says 4 жыл бұрын

I spent a lot of time listening to the soundtrack and using my own imagination to fill in the narrative. Getting to watch a bootleg, I was a little disappointed. I think your point about plot is a good one. I think there’s a lot of good ideas that are just unfinished. To me, the major theme was coming to acceptance of grief and loss. Alice, in denial of her anticipatory grief, attempts to control the narrative by whisking Alfred to Wonderland via her imagination. She fights to keep herself in denial for as long as possible: She fights turning her page, she fights coming to terms with the medical diagnosis, she makes some bad choices with caterpillars lol, etc. As she continues to stall the story for her own selfish denial, she faces the anger of the other characters. It kills me when Alfred is literally shouting at her he’s sick to death because she’s so absorbed in her own pain. Unfortunately, a good story shouldn’t make the viewer work so hard to see the theme. I like the show for what it could have been with more development.

@jdchaparro3699 4 жыл бұрын

I totally understand what you are saying! It definitely needs more development because the score is just too good! I also felt that it was really repetitive with Alfred always saying he doesn't have time. It just felt like every song she had to cheer him up and then they would get sad and she would cheer him up again.

@flightsurg 3 жыл бұрын

Trying to find a slime tutorial of this to watch in the comfort of my own home. Anyone know here I can find it?

@willowarmstrong5136 3 жыл бұрын

@@flightsurg there is one if you search up alice by heart bootleg i think, otherwise i have a google drive😊

@lumpyspacepeebs2184 3 жыл бұрын

@@willowarmstrong5136 I can’t find a bootleg, would you mind sharing?? 👁👁

@LaydiNite 3 жыл бұрын

Not all theater (or films, books, etc.) is intended to tell a single coherent, continuous story. Some are meant to portray themes or ideas, or even to be surreal and bizarre. Some pieces of media are essentially just visual spectacle, some tell defined stories, sometimes story is told almost entirely through subtext. None of these is really "incorrect". It's a bit like comparing the progression of something like "The Wall" to "Sound of Music".

@annaelena4859 4 ай бұрын

I completely agree.

@peytonp8512 4 жыл бұрын

you’re so right on all the points! it’s brilliantly staged, however needs a bit more on the plot. if they ever transfer to broadway- i would certainly buy tickets!

@peytonp8512 4 жыл бұрын

but the symbolism kills me. i could dig into in for hours and analyze it

@LaydiNite 3 жыл бұрын

Alice by Heart was subverting the ending of the original story. Stories can't fix everything. They can't keep our loved ones with us forever, they can't fix the problems of the real world. What they can do is help give us solace in hard times and give us a way to relate to our emotions. In the end, she would be powerless to stop time and illness. The only way to stay true to the idea of the empowerment ending would require literal magic. She would either have to miraculously save Alfred from his illness or have wonderland become real so he could live there forever. Neither one would be a good or reasonable ending here. That's kind of the point. As far as the Jabberwocky; I actually have heard several people say that part scared them as kids, and I could see how the gibberish words could contribute to that. You know the nonsense words are meaningless, but a child doesn't, so often fills in assumed meanings, which can make it scarier than it really is, like imagining monsters from a shadow in their room. Confusion is often scary, and the aspect of the medical jargon in the show not making sense to Alice but being threatening and confusing makes sense to me. She knows he's terribly sick but doesn't understand any of the details.

@justsomegirl862 Ай бұрын

YES.

@butterflytaster5553 4 жыл бұрын

while i love the musical to bits for its staging (and for kim blanck, who am i kidding, i'm a simple woman) you made very good points that i can agree with. i wasn't really aware of the novel's existence, but by the sound of it i'm better off continuing not to look any further into it. yikes, sater. like another commenter on this video i did find the central theme to be grief and how the characters process or refuse to process it, so i was able to accept the story for what it is and focus on the wonderful, wonderful staging to supplement what the narrative lacked. thank you for the well-constructed video!

@isabelle6980 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! And I totally agree about Kim Blanck, she and Heath Saunders were my fav parts of the show! Have you seen Octet? It was really great to see her in a role where she could really shine

@butterflytaster5553 4 жыл бұрын

@@isabelle6980 oh yes absolutely! i'm a big, big fan of dave malloy and to no one's surprise solo is my favourite song. it's all about those last four "i could be so good at love"s

@isabelle6980 4 жыл бұрын

Butterfly Taster oh hell yes!!!! 🤝

@butterflytaster5553 4 жыл бұрын

@@isabelle6980 🤝!!!

@chrisc6311 Ай бұрын

I lowkey saw it the first time and immediately understood, the whole entire wonderland sections are literally them going in order chapter by chapter trying to reach the end (Alfred dying) the whole video kind of sounds like a hate piece standing on the fact you didn't understand it. It also seemed like you were getting mad that a reimagined story of wonderland was reimaging wonderland... like the whole Jabberwocky point, it was so cool to see it spun that way but you were angry that it didn't stay directly to the original story which again is not the point of reimaging. I will say the whole speaking in an accent but singing without one is a good catch. You are completely right I didn't even notice it and it does sound weird.

@justsomegirl862 Ай бұрын

i agree, it just feels like a hate video and many of the points made seemed to be based on nonunderstanding. (i could elaborate but i do not care to write such long paragraphs) i really do not agree with this video and its kind of hurtful to see such a hearfelt and beautiful piece of art misunderstood. i can explain the accent part though. it was stated multipe times though that this was a quite low budget production before being picked up by the production firm (i belive it was called sth like wcc or so), so they most probably didnt have the money to hire an accent coach, (many shows let the actors figure this part out themselves, btw, so lets not bash them) and singing in a british accent just doesnt work like 90% of the time, sorry to disappoint, especially in this show with all the beautiful elongated legatos at the end of words that would have been cut short by the accent.

@LaydiNite 3 жыл бұрын

I've never read the book Alice by Heart, and recently came upon the show for the first time, so I'm giving my impressions just on that basis (I think the music is incredible). Alice in Wonderland is also built on strange nonsense, though. The chaos made sense to me because of that. Also, in the show Alice is skipping around in the story to avoid parts she doesn't want to acknowledge and skip to the parts she does. Regarding the growing up parts, even in the show I did notice the creepy fixation on her body. I felt like it kind of ruined the other part of the concept. The theme of growing up vs. childhood does work in the sense of Alice's denial tying into the "playing make-believe" idea, and her acceptance of the truth about Alfred's impending death being framed as a tragic but necessary part of growing up.

@matthewalexander9514 4 жыл бұрын

So happy I stumbled onto this video! I love the score of Alice By Heart, but after watching the bootleg the book leaves so much to be desired. The show needs to decide if it’s truly an original story using the parallels of Wonderland or if it’s just a new “innovative” adaptation of the source material

@skylarsolar893 2 ай бұрын

hi! i love your video though for me, Alice's personality is very relatable. For me mentally my friends say I regress in age sometimes. And I won't deny it because I can feel it, I feel Alice is intended to be mentally stuck during the story to make the reality of Alfred's death more impactful and during "I Shrunk Enough" it's her finally being able to start a level of healing. "Winter Blooms" well...the lyrics feel for me really REALLY telling. As Alfred seemed connected towards Autum. When the leaves are dying and the flowers fade. It'd make sense as for why Alfred's death/Autum's passing happens, Alice grows in a sense. To add to the reason of aging up, I can see where your upset, for me on my side of it, I still fine enjoyment of actual exploration of a teen/child's reaction towards puberty. It doesn't happen immeditally I'd say but when it clicks well.. Her reaction to "huge" was funny though I feel they could've put less emphasis on the girl's breasts. To add to your critque of the narrative and how Alice's mind works, from what we can tell it might be playing out as the girl plays with the other members and Alfred. The first time we exit Wonderland is "Sick To Death of Aliceness" in one sense, the Soilder and Doormouse, and Alfred are annoucning their exhaustion frustration. Down The Hole can be a hint of what happens. During the song everyone turns into their Wonderland counterpart, either with a positive or negative sideeffect. The Queen and Doctor show this negative side well, contrasting with everyone's utter joy during this song. Live verison displays this the best, with how there's this glare the Queen shows, while the King seems timid in comparison towards her. Much similar to the dynamic I'd say. The book though...eugh, that book actually seems to suck. I've read it and was turned off by the pages quicker then ever. That being said Alice's personality still works, she still gets annoyed. Espically after "Aliceness" which I get. She's sick of it, though the thing is Alice convinced Alfred to join her in Wonderland. Alfred wasn't fully engaging because he was sick, he tries to speed the story up, but Alice still has her own power in a way. She can to an extent still try and control the narrative. On the songs, it does still work. I'd say you take another listen, your a biiit harsh with the musical and while that is understandable. I doooo think there's a lot of reason to still love this musical. There was a reason why ppl will come back to this. The musical interperts this book in its own way, to add the Jabberwocky is in the musical supposed to frighten Alice into giving up Alfred. The Jabberwocky sence CAN scare I'd say.

@justsomegirl862 Ай бұрын

yea especially the part where the video critizied the music/ songs with seemingly no reasoning/ elaboration stung a little. you cant expect to watch a musical once or twice and immediately get songs stuck in your head. did it happen to me? no ! do i still love the songs? hell yes, theyre a work of art. of course the songs blend into each other if you dont really care for the story.

@aniretakc 4 жыл бұрын

Your review is quite interesting to me as I disagree with many points about the story, but I'm mostly just glad that other people actually know that Alice By Heart exists lol

@ateliertamsin9737 4 жыл бұрын

Ah! I'm only partway through this essay, however, it's gotten so many things that I had issues within the book--particularly describing Nurse and Alice.

@isabelle6980 4 жыл бұрын

thank you so much! and there’s sooo much more i could have talked about but ended up cutting for clarity

@waffelton 3 жыл бұрын

Colton Ryan's voice though

@em4998 4 жыл бұрын

while i dont agree with everything you said and i still do very much love the musical, you made some very good points and explained your opinions very well!! overall i rly enjoyed this video :)

@zai9407 4 жыл бұрын

This has nothing to do with the video (which I'm still watching btw) but, knowing that you watched the musical. Can you please tell me what happens in "Winter Blooms"?! I'm dying here :'v

@wootwoot265 Күн бұрын

I don’t think you understood this show. Part of the beauty is how open this story is to interpretation. There is so much symbolism in Wonderland that I don’t think you tried to understand. I interpreted the show very differently. I think Alfred was dead before Wonderland. Alice wouldn’t accept this so Alfred took her through the story as fast as he could. Many of the characters represent some stage of the grieving process. As she is taken through the story she faces the five phases of grief. While she does this, she also is forced to accept that she’s not a kid anymore. I think this is where Sater’s creepiness is very much on purpose. Her maturing body shows that she’s growing up but she refuses to do so (which is why she acts like a kid). If Alice grows up, she has to face the reality that Alfred is dead. This show has so much beauty that I don’t think you tried to understand.

@megan1387 3 жыл бұрын

i saw this musical with no knowledge of the book or themes. I only knew the basic story of alice. i really enjoy the odd sense of entanglement with the plot. It's almost comforting. I love the way you constructed the video! :) (the disgusting themes that i am now aware of make me sick. im glad the musical stayed away from most of it, but its still just ew.)

@_Hofnarr 4 жыл бұрын

Mr. Dr. Basu here... really liked this! Great effort and execution. Look forward to seeing more. Herself is very proud and is currently working on your feedback. I'm sure it will be lovely.

@isabelle6980 4 жыл бұрын

Hofnarr this is so sweet thank you so much!!!!!

@spacesapphic637 4 жыл бұрын

YOU'RE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT!!!

@luthientinuviel3883 4 жыл бұрын

I have to say...I love the music of Alice by Heart, but I dont think about the story very much. Its rather flimsey. Great vid btw!

@GlitteringChesh 2 жыл бұрын

I really liked the songs west of words, down the hole, and I’ve shrunk enough. The latter is actually how I found the show, I randomly heard it on Spotify and loved it so much I immediately latched onto this letdown of a show. Wonderland is kind of my thing so it was bound to happen lol

@Lilithsurrency1989 3 жыл бұрын

The burning books wasnt a nazi comparison line its referencing the situation they are in.they are stuck in a tiny bunker with a little girl risking hers and everyone else's life's. The nurse is stressed and says it cause she's angry at alice

@isabelle6980 3 жыл бұрын

when is book burning not a nazi comparison

@isabelle6980 3 жыл бұрын

To remind us both, the line is "No wonder they are burning books." This is a story set during WWII. To me, this is pretty clear cut. Who is "they"? While I'm sure there were other groups of people burning books during the 1940s, there's one specific group that comes to mind. When an audience informed of the time period hears that line, what are they going to think of first? (hint: it's the fascists in power during the 1940s who were notorious for burning books)

@Lilithsurrency1989 3 жыл бұрын

@@isabelle6980 but your argument was that its insensitive which I dont agree with and the they is all the people stuck in the bunker

@Lilithsurrency1989 3 жыл бұрын

@@isabelle6980and I know what world war 2 was and I think lines like that are there to establish setting

@Lilithsurrency1989 3 жыл бұрын

@@isabelle6980 and the line is the nurse saying in rage well now i understand why they are burning books

@tararaw8518 2 жыл бұрын

9:26 tell me you're a male writer without telling me you're a male writer

@scarletsavage4935 3 ай бұрын

I feel like it’s really clear that the facist comparisons to the nurse are representative of her nature and and clue to who she is to Alice which is shown much more obviously later when she transforms into the queen of hearts… a facist dictator… the nurse is a villain not a girl boss.

@justsomegirl862 Ай бұрын

yes! that part of the video confused me so much. like i dont get what she has against it. a man couldve also been described that way