"What if, I was able to make an Alice in Wonderland where I could cast any jazz musician in history, and who would they play? The Mad Hatter? Why, that magnificent eccentric composer/pianist Thelonious Monk, of course."
"The more you dig into it, the more you see the relationship between Alice and jazz in a weird way. There's something about the story's playfulness and absurdity and interest in math and puzzles and poking fun at societal norms that aligns with jazz."
"By 2009, what had initially been a fun thought experiment had evolved into Alice in Wonderland: a which NWCT is now mounting for the third time - and the first at its current downtown Portland home, The Judy on Broadway."
Ezra Weiss, a jazz composer and pianist, moved to Portland in 2001 and began working at Northwest Children's Theater. He proposed a jazz-themed adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, envisioning jazz musicians as characters. The Mad Hatter became Thelonious Monk, and the Caterpillar was represented by Miles Davis. Weiss noted the parallels between the story's playfulness and jazz's improvisational nature. Collaborating with Sarah Jane Hardy, they developed the musical, which premiered in 2009 and is now being staged for the third time at The Judy on Broadway in Portland.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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