Seussical JR

For me this relatively unknown musical proved an undiscovered gem.  It combines a vast array of characters from the collection of Doctor Seuss’s stories featuring Horton, the People of Who and Gertrude McFuzz.  “Seussical JR” deals with the stories of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘Horton Hears a Who’ and becomes a scaled-down junior adaptation of the full musical which is still packed to the brim with full company action, challenging musical numbers and high energy, busy routines. 

The stage in Little Downham Village Hall is not large.  Director Becky Green chose to use a traverse stage setting with a very colourful, static set with a whacky design on the stage, a white box in the centre and a huge bird’s nest on a raised platform the other end. The audience sat on each side and I think it worked really well.  The cast certainly used the area confidently despite being very close to the audience.  I must commend the person or team responsible for all the costumes and make-up.  The make-up looked great fun for the cast and was far more effective than using masks which only hide some of those wonderful expressions. The costumes were aptly colourful, fun and simple all working to communicate the intended character role.  The lighting worked really well particularly as it had to light an avenue in effect without, thankfully, blinding the audience. The role of Musical Director was not designated in the programme but, I suspect, was also the indefatigable Ms Green, who should to be praised for the sound which came from on stage.  The music was all taped and the cast whose ages ranged from 7 years had obviously been throughly rehearsed. No one missed an intro and all knew when to wait for the music cue.   This is a pretty challenging score with a variety of styles and we heard some really great vocal work.  The Choreography (by Becky assisted by Holly Graham and Sophie Rutterford) was not, as one might expect given the age of the cast, a watered down version of a full scale musical.  It was pretty full on and was carried out with skill, energy and obvious enjoyment by the whole cast.  

Integral to the plot is JoJo – a tiny creature from the land of ‘Who’, who is punished for being an overactive thinker, having a curious imagination and asking too many questions. JoJo was incredibly well played by the (currently) diminutive William Silvester.  William projected and sang well and conveyed exactly what was required, a natural performer who had the audience on his side from the get go. Super performance, well done William.  Lucy Wright confidently played The Cat in the Hat with swagger. This spirited narrator sported the iconic image of Seuss with the large red and white striped top hat and black and white suit. Loved the imaginary keyboard playing!  Riley Martin as Horton, communicated the caring nature of his character and is someone who is shaping out to be a very able performer indeed.  He has good stage presence and a fine voice.  An very good characterisation and an excellent performance.

Mayzie was delivered as a whimsical yet brassy diva to good effect by Sophie Rutterford.  A good confident performance throughout.  Evie Bennett as the idealist bird, Gertrude gave a very competent performance.  Evie dealt with her solos really well. Just remember to keep the projection up. An fine performance.  Two very confident performances came from Jo Jo’s parents Mr and Mrs Mayor Huw Morris and Elly Hakansson Harvey.  Their interaction with Jo Jo and each other was very good as were their songs.  Two very good performances.

All members of the supporting cast each created their own characters well.  I spotted a few interesting personalities which seemed so developed I thought they were characters which would come to light as we got further into the show. Kaylee Rae Heaps impressed vocally as the Sour Kangaroo.  Obviously someone destined to perform in musicals.  Grace Butcher was so cute as Young Kangaroo and although she had few lines was totally focussed all the time and never missed a cue. Well done Grace. I absolutely loved the Bird Girls, Lottie Martin, Macey Arnold and Sienna-Mae Graham, who (to mis-quote Horton) proved that singers and dancers are singers and dancers no matter how small. They not only acted as Mayzie’s backing singers but also supported Gertrude and The Cat in the Hat in several scenes.  Emelia Cox, Ella Mae Alsop, and Ruby Murfitt made an excellent trio playing duel roles as The Wickersham Brothers and Judges.  The performances came over very well and it is not always easy to speak in unison, I would have liked have heard a bit more verbal projection at times; vocally there was no problem at all. Well done to Nathan Bennett-Bullman, Abbey-Rose Alsop, Isobel Simpkin and Lydia Port-Burke who not only played The Whos but also did some swift changes into Jungle Citizens and Hunters. Not happy with three roles  Lydia also briefly played Vlad Vladikoff and Isobel played The Grinch.

This was a production I thoroughly enjoyed.  It was a colourful, great fun, high energy show with lots of smiles.  Director Becky Green, Producer Carol Hebbard and Youth Acts Up certainly did Doctor Seuss justice with their production.

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