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Show ... f c C i , s " I i ' ' " '""w'"' J i U M 1 '. ' ' ,) ! " ; , .. ' "v- ' "- - ' The cast of Alice in Wonderland cheer for Alice, "the balloon princess" (Dorian DeMichelle). L to R Cliff Hall, I Julie McLane, Ragan Petre and Joe Pitti. I Updated 'Alice in Wonderland' promises an evening of fantasy In 1970, an improvisa-tional, improvisa-tional, experimental theater company called The Manhattan Manhat-tan Project took Lewis Carroll's well-loved classic "Alice In Wonderland" and, under the direction of Andre Gregory, transformed it into a contemporary fantasy. When Joe Pitti saw the humorous, updated "Alice" in New York, he found the play "incredible." Shortly afterwards a director cast Pitti as Humpy Dumpty in a touring company version, and he went on to direct two revivals on Long Island. Now the technical theater major at the University of Utah has convinced the Theatre Department's Student Stu-dent Advisory Committee to stage the internationally-successful internationally-successful "Alice In Wonderland" Wonder-land" here. The annual all-student show will run in the Babcock Theatre downstairs down-stairs at Pioneer Memorial Theatre May 24-26, 28-31 and June 1-2 at 8 p.m. There will be a 5 p.m. showing Thursday, May 31. "The lay is very movement-oriented. That's why I'm so fond of it," said Pitti, who's known throughout the valley for his mime work. "It's very playful." Alice, played by Dorian DeMichelle, tumbles down a rabbit hole and is pulled through a dream by "five animated, crazy characters" who agilely change from croquet wickets to singing mushrooms to a caterpillar's hookah among other familiar fami-liar Lewis Carroll characters like the March Hare, Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. In the Gregory parody, such modem-day characters like Richard Nixon, Prince Charles and hippies also emerge, according to Pitti. "It's just fantasy, all fantasy," said Pitti, who's not only directing the contemporary con-temporary nursery tale but also playing a handful of roles. "There's an incredible amount of energy in the show. If you sit back and relax, it's easy to have fun." New York Times critic Clive Barnes described "Alice "Al-ice In Wonderland" as "blithe, provocative, happy fun." "In Lewis Carroll, exaggeration exagge-ration was accepted as a comic standby for reality," Barnes wrote after the premiere. "Mr. Gregory takes that exaggeration, stresses its reality, and not only gets laughs, often rather scared laughs, but also shows us insights into a familiar tale that we would have never dreamed of." Pitti recommends "Alice" for young adults and up. Tickets are available at the PMT box office (581-6961). .iFPwiii!"riiiiiiii:i,ifflfW',,"lt |