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Wonderland [Masterworks Broadway 88697-88669]
I had an altogether non-wondrous time at the new musical Wonderland, which opened April 17 (and closed May 15) at the Marquis Theatre. This is, as you might have guessed, a new musicalization of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" — although little of the tone or feeling of Lewis Carroll made it to the stage. In this case, the Alice of the title is an adult; she has a ten-year-old daughter called Chloe, yes, but it's the mother who travels down through the rabbit hole. Where she experiences things which are not exactly Wonderlandish, causing most of the audience to grow not curiouser and curiouser but just plain peeved.

The Wonderland CD has now arrived; it was released prior to the Broadway opening, actually, testament to the producer's faith in the success of the project. There seems little sense in belaboring the point. Let it be said that the score seems marginally better on disc, divorced as it is from the onstage goings-on.

The CD arrived with a sticker on the wrapper saying "the new musical from the composer of Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War," which in itself might scare at least some prospective customers away. Let me say, though, that I find the music of Wonderland to be an advance over earlier Frank Wildhorn musicals. So there. If it's credits you want, we can add that the lyrics are by Jack Murphy. The central role of Alice is played by Janet Dacal, with Darren Ritchie, Kate Shindle, Jose Llana and Karen Mason among the supporting players.

Does anyone here remember the Mike Nichols Alice, with Debbie Allen in the title role? Featuring Jane White, Alice Ghostley and Cleavant Derricks (among others)? Which shuttered at the Forrest in Philly, in 1978? Pretty bad, it was. But with at least a few passages more interesting than any of this new, wonderless Wonderland.

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Two recent CDs lie outside my field of interest, in that the songs are far more contemporary than what I like to sit around listening to. But they come from tried and true musical theatre folks, and thus might be within your field of interest.

Jenny Powers & Matt Cavenaugh: Gonna Make You Love Me features the recently-married Powers and Cavenaugh. He is well-known along Broadway for four performances, starting as star of the ill-fated Urban Cowboy in 2003 and most recently as Tony in the 2009 West Side Story. In between came the bridegroom in A Catered Affair and a memorable turn as Jerry, who likes corn, in Grey Gardens. Ms. Powers played Meg in Little Women and Rizzo in the 2007 Grease.

And then there's Alice Ripley: Daily Practice, Volume 1 [Sh-k-boom 8-3001]. Ms. Ripley is presently on tour, taking her Tony-winning Next to Normal performance on the road. The show is currently at the Ordway in St. Paul, with upcoming stops in Cleveland, Philly, at Kennedy Center, and in Toronto; out-of-towners might well want to catch this Pulitzer Prize-winner.