A prophetic hip-hop musical about the music industry before streaming existed… that now feels like it predicted everything.
In Yo’ Alice, Lewis Carroll’s young heroine is embodied by an Alice of color, set in an urban 1999. Alice is on a quest to find her authentic voice while a mean Queen of R&B wants Off with her head!
Cast Size: 10 Males, 8 Females, Numerous Ensemble Roles
Setting: Circa 1999 – An Upper Class Home; an Inner City Highschool; a Hip Hop Wonderland
Set in 1999, Yo’ Alice” is a soulful adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.” When her lawyer parents undergo a divorce, a teenaged girl of color rebels against her upper-middle-class lifestyle by applying to an inner-city arts school instead of the one her parents have chosen. As her home life crumbles, she is suddenly thrust into a new world at the urban arts school; she feels she does not belong but manages to keep the secret from her busy parents. While attempting to keep up in a dance routine, she is knocked unconscious and awakens to a rapping, tall White Rabbit! Their journey begins—an urban, soulful, pop-cultural retelling of “Alice in Wonderland”/”Through the Looking Glass,” leading Alice to reclaim her identity and voice as her family heals toward a new normal.
Lee Summers – Bio [Click Here]
(Book Writer/Co-Composer, Co-Lyricist)
Timothy Graphenreed – Bio
(Co-Composer, Co-Lyricist, Musical Supervisor, Vocal & Dance Arranger, Orchestrator)
The late Timothy Graphenreed best known for composing The Tornado, The Funky Monkey, and Emerald City Ballet in the Mega Broadway hit “The Wiz”. He is a member of ASCAP and has worked with several multi-talented Director/Choreographers including Michael Peters, Maurice Hines, Pat Birch, Hinton Battle, Louis Johnson, Debbie Allen, Henry Letang, Mercedes Ellington, Otis Sallid and Tony Award winner, George Faison. He has also musically arranged for several Notables including Gregory Hines; Bill Cosby; Jennifer Holiday; Phylicia Rashad; Jeff Goldblum; Robert Downey, Jr.; Maya Angelou; Martha Plimpton; Valerie Simpson; Darlene Love; Robert Townsend; Morgan Freeman; Charles Strouse; Shirley Maclaine; Ben Vereen; Jennifer Lewis; Melba Moore; Lalo Shriffin; Nick Ashford; Peobo Bryson and Patti Austin to name a few.
His list of theatrical and Broadway credits includes Musical Direction, Composition, Vocal and Dance Arrangements & Orchestrations for “The Wiz”, “Comin’ Uptown”, “Sing Mahailia Sing”, “Leader Of The Pack”, “Mooney Shapiro Songbook”, “To Sir With Love”, “Bona Fortuna” starring Gene Anthony Ray (Leroy from “Fame”), “Pride And Joy”, “The Apollo…. It Was Just Like Magic”, “American Passion”, “Golden Boy”, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”, and “Come On And Hear!” [A New Irving Berlin Musical. He was also the Dance Arranger for Mercedes Ellington’s “Twist”. He served as Dance Arranger for the “The Mancini Project” based on the music of Henry Mancini directed by Otis Sallid. He is Musical Director for D.D. Verni and Hinton Battle’s “The Bronx Casket Company.
Maurice Hines – Bio
(Conceived by)
The late, Maurice Hines: Choreographer, dancer, actor and director Maurice Hines, Jr. was born in New York City. He is the brother of the late jazz tap dancer and actor, Gregory Hines. Hines began studying tap dancing in New York City at age five at the Henry LeTang Dance Studio in 1948. LeTang realized his pupil’s gift for dance and began choreographing numbers tailored for Hines and his younger brother Gregory.
In 1954, when Hines was 10 years old, he and Gregory appeared in the Broadway musical comedy The Girl in Pink Tights. Following in the footsteps of the famed Nicholas brothers, they soon began appearing on stage throughout the country. They toured as the opening act for such headliners as Lionel Hampton and Gypsy Rose Lee. Their father joined the act as a drummer, and the threesome became known as Hines, Hines & Dad, performing to rave reviews in New York, Las Vegas and Europe. They made television appearances on The Pearl Bailey Show, Hollywood Palace and appeared 35 times on The Tonight Show.
In 1973, Hines began his solo career singing and dancing as Nathan Detroit in the hit musical National Touring Company of Guys and Dolls with Debbie Allen and Richard Roundtree. After his performance, Hines created a sensation in the hit Broadway musical Eubie, which opened at the Ambassador Theatre in New York on September 20, 1978 and closed October 7, 1979. The show also starred his brother Gregory and was choreographed by Henry LeTang. In 1981, Hines returned to Broadway with his performance in Bring Back Birdie with Chita Rivera. That same year, he also appeared in Sophisticated Ladies.
Turning his talents to the big screen, Hines made his film debut in 1984, in Francis Ford Coppola’s Cotton Club and during that same time with Mercedes Ellington formed Ballet Tap USA, a dance company. In 1986, he conceived, directed, choreographed, and starred in the musical Uptown…It’s Hot!. The show played for seventeen sold-out weeks in Atlantic City before moving to Broadway where Hines received a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Musical. He went on to direct several theater productions including the National Tour of the musical Harlem Suite with leading ladies Jennifer Holiday, Stephanie Mills and Melba Moore and internationally the musical Havana Night in Cuba.
Writer’s Representation: Gray Schwartz LLP |Tel: (212) 966-6700
West 25th Street – 6th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Yo’ Alice is a hip-hop reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, conceived by Maurice Hines, with a book by Lee Summers and music and lyrics by Timothy Graphenreed and Lee Summers.
Originally optioned by Radio City Entertainment / Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the work blends classic storytelling with contemporary urban sound and movement.
Listen to selected tracks below:
