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Damon Albarn scoring Alice in Wonderland inspired musical


Damon Albarn is scoring an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ musical.

The Blur frontman has announced his debut musical ‘wonder.land’ will be based on the Lewis Carroll novel and will open at the Olivier Theatre on London’s South Bank in November before being shown at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2016.

While the 46-year-old singer-songwriter will score the music for the production, director and actress Moira Buffini has been enlisted to write the lyrics.

The soundtrack follows the star’s debut solo album ‘Everyday Robots’ which was released last year, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Mercury Prize and has earned him a nomination for Best Male at the BRIT Awards.

The show – which is being produced in collaboration with the National Theatre and Manchester International Festival – promises to be a modern reinterpretation of the classic children’s story, with the protagonist heading to the internet instead of down a rabbit hole.

The synopsis reads: "Aly, 12, loves this extraordinary virtual world. Bullied at school and unhappy at home, wonder.land lets her escape from her parents, from teachers, from herself. Online, Aly becomes Alice: brave, beautiful and in control. But some of the people she meets the weird Dum and Dee, the creepy Cheshire Cat, the terrifying Red Queen – seem strangely familiar. As hard as Aly tries to keep them apart, real life and ‘wonder.land’ begin to collide in ever more curious and dangerous ways."

Tickets to the show go on sale on January 22 at 11.30am.