In 2010, Sater and Sheik began workshopping "Alice by Heart with a group of students from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, including Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein, Jack Quaid, Darren Criss, and Kathryn Gallagher. In 2011, Sater and Sheik received a commission from the Royal National Theatre: Connections to further their work on the musical, which is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and tells the story of Alice Spencer, a young girl seeking refuge with her quarantined and ailing friend Alfred Hallam, in her reimagining of Wonderland and also in the physical world of a battered Tube Station during the Blitz of World War II. The show received multiple productions at UK regional theatres and a performance at London's National Theatre. In the US, "Alice by Heart" was workshopped with Theatre Aspen in 2014, featuring Molly Gordon, Mike Faist, Noah Galvin, and Phillipa Soo. In 2015, MCC Theater produced a workshop featuring Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Ashley Park, Anthony Ramos, and Mary Testa.