Now that the Straz Center’s home-grown musical, Wonderland, is officially booked for Broadway next spring, its president, Judy Lisi, can reflect — however briefly — on what it took.
Lisi was neither awed nor assured about the prospects of the Center’s first Broadway Genesis Project product winding up on the Great White Way. “Something like this — from here to Broadway — was always a long shot,” explains Lisi. “But it was our objective to bring the ‘long shot’ in. I wouldn’t have gone into this (BGP) thinking we couldn’t do that. We have a great creative team and great facilities.”
The BGP, for those who missed the first act, is the most ambitious project in the 23-year history of the Center. The goal is nothing less than the Straz literally growing its own Broadway-caliber productions. From scratch. It’s how elite arts centers build their reputations. And the Straz, the largest performing arts center in the Southeast, is not ambition-challenged — even during a serious recession.
The Straz certainly has wherewithal. There’s the aforementioned creative team, and its state-of-the-art facilities include a “perfect, Broadway-type theater” in the 1,042-seat Louise Lykes Ferguson Theatre, technical and production capabilities, a costume shop and rehearsal studios. It’s also blessed with a large subscription base, a track record of group and individual sales, responsive audiences and major-market media. For several years the Center had been setting aside BGP money — about $3.5 million — to properly fund a made-in-Tampa production worthy of Broadway aspirations and a world premier.
It worked.
And after successful runs at the Straz and at Houston’s Alley Theatre, the audience-lauding musical — now retitled Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical Adventure — has been reworked and tweaked for prime time. All par for the ultimate course, points out Lisi.
“It went through the development process it needed,” she says. “That’s why we call it Broadway Genesis. You need that lab time to look at it clearly and objectively.
“And it became clear to us that the story line was confusing,” adds Lisi, referring to some of the dynamics between Alice and her daughter. “That was our marching orders. Make it more clear, more emotional. Make it a show about second chances. That especially resonates in our fast-paced world, where we’re all balancing and juggling.”
According to Lisi, the production has dropped some minor subplots and added two songs. And for those who appreciated the Queen of Hearts’ Sarah Palinesque send-up, there’s another political morsel embedded.
“No, we didn’t have a tea party before,” says Lisi. “Now Act I has a bizarro tea party.”
Next up for Wonderland will be a two-week, Broadway preview at the Straz Jan. 4-16. Cast and crew will be here in November. It opens April 17 on Broadway at one of the Nederlander chain theaters.
“The Nederlander organization believes in it so much,” says Lisi, “it is partnering with us.” Indeed, just to have a theater guarantee is a major accomplishment. Reportedly, there’s a backlog of about 30 shows that can’t get one.