Steven Sater | Alice By Heart

Join us for a discussion with Steven Sater and Felicia Fitzpatrick about Steven's new book, Alice By Heart. Broadway stars Krysta Rodriguez and Alex Boniello (from the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening, amongst other Broadway credits) perform “Afternoon,” a song from the stage production of Alice by Heart. You can purchase a copy of “Alice By Heart” here: www.strandbooks.com/index.cfm...
In this gorgeous YA adaptation of his off-Broadway musical, the Tony Award-winning co-creator of Spring Awakening encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even in the harshest of times.
London, 1940. Amidst the rubble of the Blitz of World War II, fifteen-year-old Alice Spencer and her best friend, Alfred, are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. Sick with tuberculosis, Alfred is quarantined, with doctors saying he won't make it through the night. In her desperation to keep him holding on, Alice turns to their favorite pastime: recalling the book that bonded them, and telling the story that she knows by heart--the story of Alice in Wonderland.
What follows is a stunning, fantastical journey that blends Alice's two worlds: her war-ravaged homeland being held together by nurses and soldiers and Winston Churchill, and her beloved Wonderland, a welcome distraction from the bombs and the death, but a place where one rule always applies: the pages must keep turning. But then the lines between these two worlds begin to blur. Is that a militant Red Cross Nurse demanding that Alice get BACK. TO. HER. BED!, or is it the infamous Queen of Hearts saying...something about her head? Soon, Alice must decide whether to stay in Wonderland forever, or embrace the pain of reality if that's what it means to grow up.
Steven Sater has won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, as well as the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for Spring Awakening. His other musicals include Alice By Heart (National Theatre of London, MCC); The Nightingale (La Jolla Playhouse); Prometheus Bound (music by Serj Tankian, A.R.T.); Some Lovers (music by Burt Bacharach, the Old Globe). His plays include Arms on Fire (Steppenwolf New Play Prize); New York Animals (Bedlam); and a reconceived musical version of Shakespeare's Tempest (Lyric Hammersmith). Additionally, Sater works as a poet, screenwriter, and a pop lyricist. He has created television projects for HBO, Showtime, FX, and NBC, and is currently creating a musical TV pilot for Amazon.
Felicia Fitzpatrick is regarded as a pioneer of Broadway social media as Playbill’s first-ever Director of Social Media and Creative Strategy and first black female department head. She revolutionized Playbill’s social engagement and storytelling strategies during a time when Broadway was shaping its own digital landscape. She specializes in social media strategy and cultivating online communities. Felicia graduated with a B.A. in Theatre and Dance (with a concentration in African American Performance) from the University of Texas at Austin. She has also worked as a dramaturg, choreographer, and performer on numerous UT and regional theater productions.
Krysta Rodriguez is an actress/singer/dancer most known for her roles on Broadway and Television. For the past 12 years she made her living in New York in such shows as First Date, The Addams Family, In The Heights, A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening and Good Vibrations. She also appeared on NBC’s televised ode to Broadway “Smash” as Ana, the high flying, day drinking Diva.
Alex Boniello is an actor, singer, and musician from New York City. He has appeared as the voice of Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening on Broadway.
Recorded February 7, 2020

[@shannnonislame]

Dont get me wrong, I love Alex and Krysta, but I just feel like their voices don't feel right for the parts 🤷‍♀️

[@jaydenmiles2354]

I feel like they might not have had a understanding of the piece prior the performance? Idk he has inflections that didn’t seem like you’d put if you knew it was a sad song. Strange to me.