“La Rosita Plaza is home to Alice in Wonderland’s “A Mad Hatter Affair”

**** Never judge a book by it’s cover! This is something that we all grew up hearing, and tonight Jane and I were thrilled to see just how true it was. Tonight was the opening of a new “Storefront ” concept. An empty banquet hall in a strip shopping center in Palatine Illinois has been converted to Wonderland” and the experience is one of theater as well as dining. I am quite familiar with this center as the newspaper I write for, Nueva Semana, has its office just three doors down, and when the banquet hall was in business, I did several Santa appearances for La Rosita and the Village of Palatine.

Walking through the door was a major eye opener. The hall which had been a large empty space with a small stage has been transported to a world of make believe and traces of the “Alice in Wonderland” story can be seen. There is a croquet area with pelicans waiting to become mallets. We see Alice falling through the hole and of course during the experience, the White Rabbit ( deftly played by Katrina Kazumura)continues to complain “I’m Late”.

The bar has several drinks that are Mad hatter specials. Mine was with Vodka and Frank and Cary enjoyed the rum drink while jane had a ginger ale. The drinks were smooth and delicious. The seating is set up as VIP ( they are facing the stage with runway and those include a full dinner. The other seats are called GA ( general Admission) which include no food ( but there is a two item purchase min.)

We were in VIP seats so we did not miss any action. As you meet the characters ( they suggest you arrive 15 minutes before the curtain so you can belly up to the bar and then mingle and walk about. You will spot an array of hats on the walls. Don’t be shy- take one and wear it. After all you are attending the party led by The Mad Hatter!

The dinner was a surprise ( and amazing). The menu had shown a number of items as starters and I assumed that meant we would pick one and then a main course and then dessert. Not so in Wonderland! We had an adorable cucumber salad, followed by a delicious cream of broccoli soup, followed by a Caesar salad and also breads and butter, hummus & pita and then to finish this course a cheeseburger/slider.

The Main Courses are selected- three of us selected the Chicken Marsala and mashed potatoes ( sautéed chicken breast cooked in a savory marsala sauce served with creamy mashed potatoes). Cary opted for the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo ( fettucine pasta tossed in a rich and creamy alfredo sauce topped with crispy breaded chicken and parmesan cheese). The other options were Spaghetti and a gluten free pasta.

By the way. They do have a KIDS menu with Pizza and the fettucine and spaghetti dinners as well as a Mad Hatter PB & J sandwich served with a whimsical twist. ( I would have liked to have seen one of those).

The desserts were powerful- trays of goodies including: petite pastries, chocolate truffles, fruit tarts, a sundae and lots of other goodies. Our server, Chandler ,came by with lots of tasty treats and I for one never missed a beat.

The experience of dinner and theater is 90 minutes in duration and does involve the audience. Those who want to get onstage will have every opportunity to do so. Even I got up and did a little special version of  “I’m a Little Teapot”. The show itself is about the  Red Queen ( a very impressive Tama Bearden) , the Cheshire Cat ( an adorable performance by Hallie Gergerich, who is quite the juggler), The Rabbit ( Ms Kazumura), the King ( played to perfection by Cliff Perotti)and of course, our host and Emcee, The Mad Hatter.( the extremely talented Josiah Payne, who is quite the song and dance man). They sing, they dance, they joke and read poems. All of this is happening as we are also being served our scrumptious dinner. As they do this, with time, they will get their timing of service coordinated with the show.

The audience participating makes the experience more fun. I suggest that you walk into this world of make believe with your mind on being a kid again. If you do that, you enter the world of make believe and will find it easy to fall into the story and the characters.

The “theater” is located at  1170 East Dundee Road ( just West of Route 53 and East of Rand Road) and there is plenty of parking. The Rositas sign will get you there for sure. The performance schedule right now is Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 5 p.m. and they will add 8 p.m. on Saturday as well. I think they are talking about doing a Sunday brunch in the future as this would be a perfect family outing allowing Mom and Dad to be kids again. Remember, “Alice in Wonderland” was around when they were kids too.

To order tickets visit www.chicagotheatrical.com or call708-292-8664

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “A Mad Hatter Affair”