Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

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Many classic titles—from The Secret Garden to Treasure Island—have been recorded numerous times, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is no exception. Carroll’s story has attracted a dizzying array of audio productions, including abridged, unabridged, radio adaptations, and even a musical. So who better than Dale, master of voices, creator of characters, to take on the challenge and come up a new version that is a winner? Has the Queen of Hearts’ anger ever been so florid, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar’s ennui so languid, the White Rabbit’s nattering so fusty? It would take a heart of stone and a tin ear to resist laughing at Dale’s galumphing rendition of “The Lobster Quadrille.” “Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance? Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?” Alice herself is a study in prim bewilderment giving gradually away to righteous indignation. The fact that a mature male narrator can pull off the voice of a little girl without sounding phony or condescending is nothing short of a miracle. And even though Dale’s voice is certainly well known due to his remarkable reading of the Harry Potter titles, it never gets in the way as listeners become immersed in this timeless classic, read in his distinctive and commanding British-laced delivery.