WONDERLAND behind the scenes: Building Hotel Wonderland

As my early sketch of the set will show you—and please forgive my stick-figure Alice!—the story always comes first for me. My Alice’s Tea Party has to happen someplace distinctively unmagical, so I chose an extraordinarily ordinary kitchen as the setting. Next, it drives the prop list. I selected objects that hinted at the original story (Dinah the cat, flamingo head faucet, hanging mushrooms, Wonderland sign on the fridge, rabbit in a highchair) and some that told my story (handgun, old electronics, machines, wires, dead rabbit with stuffed eyes). Only after all of that is taken care of do I think about technical issues like lighting (softbox and spots, in this case).

To play the sweet innocence of the original Alice aesthetic against the grungy, obsessive, and melancholy nature of my version, I ultimately decided to conjure up this kitchen as part of a dingy studio apartment at the fictitious Hotel Wonderland. At the time I drew the sketch, I wasn’t even sure whether I’d try to find an old house to use, or create the set from scratch. In the end, I just couldn’t imagine that I would find the right place anywhere but inside my head.

The studio quickly filled up as our set design crew rounded up used cabinetry, appliances, furniture, and other oddities, all roughly dating from that time period—or at the very least, looked like they’d been lying around since then! As I stood on the completed set, I remember feeling very strange that I was now walking around a tangible room that still really only existed in my mind.

We decorated with the same desperate mindset that my Alice would have used, nice-ing it up as if we knew we were rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. From the fake flowers in the drawers to the lace doilies on the counter and the pictures hanging on the walls, we wanted to make it meticulously certain that only a delusional depressive could ever call it their home.

The contrast that we achieved by bathing this decrepit kitchen in bright light and vibrant colors created an environment in which both versions of Alice could coexist within the delusion of her dream. This was a place where we could all join Alice as she attempts to recreate the tea party of her dreams—complete with a giant stuffed bunny (the March Hare), her feline (Dinah, looking not unlike the Cheshire Cat), and a great big bottle of elixir.

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