Damon Albarn Says His ‘Wonder.land’ Isn’t Like Other ‘Predictable’ Musicals

Blur's Damon Albarn has written the music for a new musical called Wonder.land, which will be performed at the Palace Theatre in Manchester in July as part of the Manchester International Festival. While talking about the new production, Albarn revealed that he doesn't think too highly of musicals as a whole, saying of the form, "It's saccharine, it’s predictable, it’s cynical" before adding, "That’s probably going to alienate me to a lot of people."

Despite that opinion, Albarn also shared that he's enjoyed the process of working on Wonder.land, which is based on Lewis Carroll's novel Alice In Wonderland and is directed by the National Theatre's Rufus Norri. Albarn said, "This is the first thing I’ve done where I feel like I’m in that world [of the theater workshop], and that’s what makes it so exciting."

Albarn also pointed out a parallel between some of the supernatural elements of the story and life today, saying, "These rabbit holes exist on every single phone, and our kids disappear down them even though physically they’re still in the room."

As for Blur, the band are currently on the road in Europe and announced recently that they have added two U.S. shows to their schedule. Find their complete tour dates here.

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