A CHALLENGING role beckons for a St Albans performer in a new operatic production of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale Alice.

Rory Carver, who attended St Albans School and sings in the Dagnall Street Baptist Church choir, is taking on the role of the Mad Hatter as well as musically directing the Opera Warwick production.

He said: “It’s been a real challenge to create something that caters to opera lovers as well as opera novices. I’d love to think that the show would encourage other young people to get as involved in music as I have growing up.”

The show uses an original script written by Samuel Worthington – currently completing his master’s degree in English at Warwick University – and features familiar songs in unexpected situations from composers as diverse as Verdi and Sondheim.

The 35-strong cast includes some of the university’s current opera scholars, working with students who simply love to sing, and features nine different nationalities in cast and crew.

Artistic director Harriet Birchall said the idea was to use the familiar story of Alice to showcase some of opera’s great songs – suitably adapted to fit her adventures in Wonderland. She added: “Like the Knave of Hearts, we’ve let all the great composers do all the hard work, and then pinched the very best of them. Opera can be magnificent, but quite daunting, but our adaptation of Alice shows that it can also be fun.”

The show is being performed at 7:30pm next Saturday, May 5, at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, London. Tickets at �10-�12 and �38 for families are available from the boxoffice on 08456 801 926 or www.alicetheopera.co.uk