Alice in Wonderland
Project Information
- Category: Sound design
- Location: Stage Right Productions
- Year: 2024
- Director: Samuel Maneses
- Stage manager: Quinn Hall
- Role: Lead sound designer
Design Overview
The director had a very unique vision for Alice in Wonderland, being "high fashion" as he described it. The set was minimalistic to give more attention towards the costumes and acting, and because of that, I put my design towards having a few, subtle sounds to really excentuate what is happening on stage or fill in the gaps with the minimalistic set. As a part of this, I positioned speakers in the back of the house to have a more immersive feel for the audience, as in the environments are around them, rather than simply in front of them.
The show was submitted for adjudication to Colorado Thespians, and the sound design got mentioned as being appropriate for the action and immersive. As an Induvidual Event at Colorado Thescon, I presented it and won a "superior" rating at competition at competition. The slideshow used is linked here, though a lot of the information in it is contained on this page.
Design samples
Static
As a part of the director's unique take on the show, the iconic scene where Alice falls down the hole was represented with flashlights, mist, and a ramp. As Alice walked down the ramp, the other characters pointed flashlights around. To represent this surreal, almost inhuman transformation, I represented it with static, to demonstrate how eerie and unnatural it all is.
Queen
The queen's famous line, "off with your head!" is pivitol to the character, and I wanted to represent that part of her character with music, as a "theme song" of sorts, especially with the actor's portrayal of her as being energetic and shrill. I wanted to represent her as been eccentric and militeristic with this music, inspired by the Empire's theme in Star Wars.
Cheshire Cat old
The character of the Cheshire Cat is confusing already, and with the director's take on it being different from what audiences might expect, I felt it important to represent his character with music. The actor played the Cheshire Cat as laid-back and stoned, and combined with this music, was unsettling and did not come off as intended.
Cheshire Cat final
Taking the feedback from my director and fellow designers, I found new music to better represent both the director's vision for the Cheshire Cat and how his actor interpreted the character. The intended effect came across much more clearly with this new music.