How incredibly blessed was Brisbane to scoop the sensational world premiere of Cirque Alice! Breathtaking. Captivating. Spectacular. A wondrous evening filled to overflowing with incredible memories that will last a lifetime! We saw it first!
A coup for Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the staging of this phenomenal production is a fitting and tremendous way to celebrate QPAC’s 40th anniversary.
Inspired by the amazing characters originally created by Lewis Carroll, Cirque Alice is an imaginative, contemporary reinvention of Alice’s wonderland. The Concert Hall, home to opera and orchestra was stunningly transformed into a circus venue.
I was especially delighted by the unexpected inclusion of our queen of QPAC, the majestic pipe organ in the program. Under the auditory directorship of Norwegian composers and arrangers, Martin Raabe-Olsen and Marius Christiansen, the musical selections were superb.
I was greatly impressed but not overtly surprised to read of the classical training and ongoing contributions of the included musicians to the world’s orchestras and musicals.
Alice (Layla Schillert) from Australia, has a beautiful soprano voice. Superb in her effortless reach of the highest notes and crystal in clarity, I’m certain we’ll be seeing much more of this young lady in future operas.
Musically, I single out violinist, Darius Luke Thompson for special mention. From the moment he strode onto stage in his rabbit costume, I was immediately alert to the sounds of a virtuoso violinist in the building. He’s a credit to his classical training at the Royal Academy of Music.
The downloaded program is absolutely bulging with talent and makes for a mind blowing read of astounding bios, selections, castings and accomplishments. Amazingly, these creatives, visionaries and artists are still young.
Somehow, the acclaimed producers, Tim Lawson and Simon Painter and their team successfully searched the world and gathered together elite creatives, directors and performers from across the planet. This is global unity and international collaboration at its artistic best.
The nations represented read like a wonderful world tour: Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Tanzania, Russia, UK, Ukraine, USA. The beautiful, unusual names of the artistes adds to the international mystique.
Clearly, this array of astonishing artists have been selectively chosen for their expertise in the varied performing art forms showcased in the production.
These performers epitomise the wonders of the human body at its outermost extremes of beauty, perfection and extraordinary ability. We watched in awed disbelief as super humans perfectly executed the seemingly impossible.
This production lacked nothing. It had it all. There were acrobatic, balancing and aerialist duos. Soloist and group contortionists. Displays of exquisite grace and demonstrations of power.
Massive congratulations and credit to everyone involved in this absolutely marvellous production! There are far too many to mention but I read through every impressive bio and then further researched those who particularly caught my attention.
Cirque Alice has my highest recommendation for a must see production.
Cirque Alice
Concert Hall – QPAC, Corner Grey and Melbourne Streets, South Bank (Brisbane)
Performance: Friday 11 April 2025
Season continues to 22 April 2025
Information and Bookings: www.qpac.com.au
Images: Jeff Hobson as The Mad Hatter – photo by Peter Wallis | Layla Schillert (centre) as Alice with Kaylee Smith and Charlee Danilczak – photo by Peter Wallis | Maria Sarach and Artists of Cirque Alice – photo by Peter Wallis
Review: Michele-Rose Boylan