The Alice stories by Lewis Carroll reign supreme in the minds behind Nordo’s creations this season—Curiouser and Curiouser Parts I and II are followed now by the utterly delightful Down the Rabbit Hole. Nordo’s artists of culinary, visual, and theatrical forms have created a marvelously ridiculous evening (or afternoon) of music, performance and food. If you are looking for something to tickle your funny bone, and give your eyes, ears and tummy all kinds of tastes, treat yourself and a chum to some time with the geniuses down in Pioneer Square who run Cafe Nordo.
Down the Rabbit Hole springs from the strange journeys the British author known as Lewis Carroll wrote in the mid 1800s. His character is Alice; an adventurous, self-assured, and defiantly entitled girl who is determined to get into and out of trouble. Carroll sends her into Wonderland and then through a Looking Glass where all kinds of terrifying and strange things happen to her. One can read the Alices as horror stories, or as child’s play. Don’t even open the Pandora’s box that is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson himself. Therein lies the longevity of these remarkable books. No worries, the stories are mushed mercilessly together here, and it is the characters who rule the performance, not the stories. And the food! Five courses of fine dining accompany performances and service from The Mad Hatter (Jacquelyn Miedema is absolutely out of her mind, physically exact, kinetically inspired; I couldn’t tear my eyes away), The White Rabbit (Bo Mellinger nattily dressed in a dashing suit covered with timepieces) and March Hare (Jesica Avellone is Gogo to Miedema’s Lucky, or Chico to her Harpo or some kinda match made in theatrical heaven) as they prepare for the arrival of the Queen of Hearts (Kate Kraay). Some are characters from Wonderland, others from Looking Glass. No matter, we are “down at the rabbit hole” and so this is the concept that rules. The Queen seeks a crime before one has happened and lo! The tarts! Have been stolen from her lavish tea table! We have been served the very same tarts (savory pimento cheesecake with peppers and flaky crust—divine) that were intended for the queen and her guests. Soon, inevitably, the accused will be Alice (Rachel Guyer-Mafune the gifted actor who just stepped in at this performance, and read some of her lyrics from the Karaoke machine) who tumbles into the dining room through an ingenious and quite magical armoire.
Our wild-foraged mushroom soup was served by Alice after we wandered through a dark forest of growing things, and I absolutely refuse to tell you how we discovered and then dined upon our Height of the Season Salad; it is just too brilliant to give away. But I will give a shout OUT to the installation artists (Kate Jessup, Mandy Grier, Lusio Light, Paul Kikuchi, and Maryalice Weed) who created a dark grotto, a garden of flowers made entirely of paper no less beautiful than Chihuly’s glass, and rose bushes made of tea cups and saucers of a hundred sizes. We had to get up and out of our seats to roam through these beautifully lit environments and the reward? The next course of delectable food to eat. It’s nice to stretch your legs in the middle of a luxurious meal.
I won’t forget the other artists that conspired and collaborated to create this whole underground experience. There are many in the kitchen, art studio, writing the music, building the costumes (Katrina Hess was inspired), installing the “environments,” choosing the wines, designing the cocktails. The objective is to weave the story, the food and the visual art all together into a coherent and memorable event. Done!
Since its inception in 2009, Nordo chef, artists and performers have created over a dozen original works. I loved being in the room and loved the ambition of this company. I was mesmerized by the character work of Miedema and Avellone (as Hare and Hatter). This was a good thing, because with all of the production values and detail to food and drink, the story line and the music are neglected. It’s no surprise the very best moments of the night involved the actual words of Lewis Carroll. The Jabbewok, Walrus and Carpenter never get old for me and the songs written with these verses really shined. The other songs, spun out from a karaoke machine and directly from the top 40 of the last couple years, were clumsily stuck in so the performers could sing, but without much connection to the whole. Maybe there’s no need for any dramaturgy—or even a whole story. There’s so much to see, hear, taste, to engage with. By the end of the night, when our host The White Rabbit informed us the “entertainment portion of our evening was over” and that we could sing Karaoke if we wanted, the ten tables of guests were completely game. We had enjoyed each other’s company all evening, eaten the same food, delighted in the art, and characters. Nobody left, and we cheered on those who wanted to sing.
Cafe Nordo presents Down the Rabbit Hole, alternately a “wonderland cabaret” and/or “a nonsensical cabaret” and/or “An immersive theatrical ode to wonderland with pop-up art, fine dining and after-hours karaoke” in the Knife Room in Pioneer Square. Running through Mid August, then opening again Mid September. www.cafenordo.com