Alice gets through the rehearsals without much problem. It’s when the pressure’s on, that Alice becomes a little fragile. And she’s also mean, and more than a little surly. All the other cast members feel this. Alice’s ego can wreak havoc. But Alice is the star, and she’s been in this Adventure ever since she was a child. Everyone on the set knows their place and they know that Alice is the diva here. At least she thinks she is, whatever it takes to make Alice happy. Of course, Alice is never happy. Louis Comfort always feels the brunt of this, because Louis Comfort was the creator and the force behind the production. Lewis Carroll just took credit for the prose.And Alice drank her bourbon and smoked her cigarettes. Sliding down the glass menagerie that she saw as a “Rabbit Hole.” Alice always made it look so easy, not that she ever made things easy. Alice was Alice, after all. And The Burning Man was The Burning Man. And everyone was in the desert and trying to survive the elements. But the show must go on, and Alice has been doing this for a while. She grinds herself down. Alice puts her game face on and steals the show. She becomes the darling of The Burning Man Festival. She slides down the “Rabbit Hole” with grace and wisdom, befitting so many years of experience. And when the productions over, Alice is a mess.
I arrive with my Grandmother in tow, who’s not very excited about The Burning Man Festival. The desert doesn’t agree with her, after all she is quite elderly and becoming a child again. And she still doesn’t believe that Alice is the real Alice. She still believes that Alice in Wonderland is complete fiction.
Louis Comfort knows it’s not fiction. He knows because he made the damn thing. Alice in Wonderland was his creation. The “Rabbit Hole” was one of his sculptures. Lewis Carroll was too busy doing his math problems to understand about true fantasy. When Alice in Wonderland played at The Burning Man Festival, the real Alice arrived. And she played her part like the “old pro” that she was, which then landed her a six-week stint in Vegas. Alice is making top dollar and getting her money up front. She drinks her cheap bourbon and smokes her cigarettes. Alice is perfect for Vegas. She’s has been playing fantasy for a while, and the show goes on every night. Alice puts her game face on and makes it happen. She makes Vegas work for her. She’s still mean and surly, which is just the way it is. Watch out for Alice.
I watch out for my Grandmother. She’s an elderly woman, a woman that’s slowly becoming a child again. And my Grandmother knows Alice because I introduced her. She even saw the production at The Burning Man Festival. But she still doesn’t believe that Alice in Wonderland was for real. And what she does know about the Adventures of Alice, she thinks she learned from Lewis Carroll. And my Grandmother’s wrong about this, because Louis Comfort was really the creator of Alice in Wonderland. It’s Louis Comfort that deals with Alice, and keeps her sliding down the “Rabbit Hole. And Alice is Alice after all, which is never easy on anyone.
