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Stage: hot ticket
By JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 14, 2001
Back to Wonderland at USF
Jeff Norton is sentimental about Alice in Wonderland, a "poor theatre" version of the Lewis Carroll story devised by Andre Gregory. Twenty-five years ago, it was the first production of a Tampa theater company that came to be known as the Alice People, whose members included Norton, Rosemary Orlando, Tom Lewis, John Edwards, Mike Billeris, Dale Rose and Mike Leighton. "It was one of the first theater companies in Tampa to draw a regular audience," Norton said.
Now the actor and University of South Florida theater instructor is returning to Alice with a student production he directed that opens tonight on the Tampa campus. Lauren Olipra plays Alice.
"At first, I wondered if this play wasn't a dinosaur, if the spirit of this sort of thing still exists," Norton said. "There's a '60s and '70s quality to it. But I found there is still a nice freshness to it."
The production is bare bones, with "only the floor, a table, some hats and that's about it," said Norton. "It's a very physical play that depends on the actors to create the environment."
Norton had to do some last-minute revamping when cast member Justin McQuaig fell and broke his arm in rehearsal. With McQuaig out, his character (ironically, Humpty Dumpty) was taken out of the play and the cast was reduced to five.
Despite its bedtime story source, the play is not recommended for children. "It's got sort of a dark edge to it," Norton said.
Alice in Wonderland has performances in Theatre 2 at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Wednesday, through June 23. Tickets: $4 and $8. (813) 974-2323.
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