Seussical The Musical

As a parent I am very familiar with the many books and films written by the American author Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel, better know too many as Dr Seuss. Seussical the musical takes characters from several of Dr Suess stories and intertwines them; resulting in a colourful wacky musical extravaganza. The story largely narrated by the Cat in the Hat, focus around the Who’s and in particular Jojo whose misadventures leave them living on a speck of dust, or in this musical production a feather duster; with their voices only audible to Horton the kind and loveable elephant; who is ridiculed by the others animals living in the jungle of Nool, this  rarely performed musical was the perfect choice to showcase the talent of Spennymoor Youth Theatre Group.  

This well planned and organised production was directed by Louise Defty who certainly has built up a reputation of producing stand out productions; as the winner of District 4 youth award last year for the groups production of “Oliver”, Louise set herself a much bigger and grander challenge but as a director who certainly doesn’t compromise or lean towards the easier option she used all her skills and techniques to turn this musical into a high energy all action production. Big congratulations to Holly Wilkinson whose flair and creativity brought together the choreography and movement for this production; packed to the brim with solo dance numbers which allowing the characters to maintain their individuality and company ensemble numbers bringing the story together. The music was well played and controlled thanks to Tim Jasper as the musical director and his band; Andrew Robertshaw, Ciaran Alexander, Dave Jasper, Elliott Todd, Shaun Edmomdston and Dave Monagh. The sound and lighting both added enormously to the impact of the performance thanks to Craig and Dylan Stobbs on sound and Maurice Edmondston on follow spot, great use of sound effects and I loved the use of neon light clothing it certainly added to the production and visually looked stunning, thanks to the technical director Bob Harbisher. Full use was made of the set creating a fantasy land; the differing levels were used to stage each element of the story and added interest to the production and I loved how the production team constructed Mayzie’s nest in the trees and the bath scene which really worked well thanks to Liam Etherington as Stage Manager and set designer, Dave Jackson as Stage Manager Sarah Maxfield as Deputy Stage Manager and backstage crew; Stacy Thompson, Quinn Cross, Georgia Holmes and Ellen Scurrah all of whom ensured that this fast action production flowed without any concerns or interruption to the action on stage. The costumes and props were outstanding, colourful and appropriate to the story and visually enabled the audience to identify the individual characters. Well done to Louise, Margaret Thompson, Donna Gilloway, Trudy Cowan, Michelle Carling Aleisa Best and Charlie Wilkinson on sourcing the range of costumes which certainly added to the overall ambiance of the production. Well done to Steph Cooper, Vanessa Thompson, Faith Beel and Dawn Belshaw for the creative make up and face painting from an audience point of view it looked far more effective than using masks which hide those wonderful facial expressions of the young cast. A big thank you to the chaperones who works so hard entertaining the young cast behind the scenes and finally a big thank you to the front of house team who made me, and the audience feel very welcomed, thank you all so much.  

The leads were expertly cast and all delivered their characters to a very high standard playing the principal lead of the Cat in the Hat was Meg Defty who brought this fictional character to life along with her many props; this spirited narrator sported the iconic costume of Seuss and her characterisation was just spot on creating havoc throughout the production, a first class performance from this talented performer who kept the story flowing and the audience engaged, lovely interaction with the other cast members and vocally I loved her contribution to the opening number “Oh, The Things You Can Think” as well as “It's Possible” and  “The Circus McGurkas” with the circus folk to mention a few, a first class performance from this talented young lady. Brandon Sherrington delivered a stand out performance as Horton the elephant; excellent portrayal of this loving character, this young man delivered an extremely confident performance with some difficult narrative, lovely interaction with the other characters and excellent stage presence, lovely vocals especially in his contribution to the musical numbers “”Horton Hears A Who”, “Alone In The Universe” and one of my favourite numbers “Solla Sollew”. Integral to the plot was Jojo the tiny creature from the land of “Who” played by Amy Gatland this young lady delivered her character with lots of charm and maturity, probably one of the hardest characters to portray in this show but Amy delivered her character with lots of creativity well done, vocally I enjoyed her solo number “Alone In The Universe” and “Havin’ a Hunch”.

Charlie Jackson portrayal of Mayzie La Bird was fantastic, Charlie played the character of the whimsical brassy diva with great effect, this talented lady just oozes stage presence and has the natural ability to shines on stage, her character manipulates Horton and leaves him to sit on her egg whilst she `sits on the beach drinking cocktails; excellent performance with some lovely dance routines, vocally I loved her musical numbers “Amazing Mayzie” and “Mayzie in Palm Beach”. Bethany Wanless played Gertrude McFuzz the shy and caring bird with only one feathered tail; so much in love with Horton that she takes some pills to grow her tail so that Horton will notice her, lovely stage presence and a confident actress, lovely scenes throughout the performance especially with Horton, vocally I enjoyed her numbers “Amazing Gertrude”, “One Feathered Tail” and “All For You” with Horton the Bird Gils and The Cat. Playing the role of Sour Kangaroo was Faith McDermott, I loved how Faith delivered this character and how she maintained her diva queen of the jungle persona delivered with confidence and attitude, great performance and vocally can this young lady sing; I loved her contribution to the musical numbers “Biggest Blame Fool”, “Chasing The Who” and “Egg, Nest And Tree”. Playing Roo the baby sour Kangaroo was Oliver Best; lovely performance coming through, confident stage presence and nice collaboration with Sour Kangaroo. Mature performances from Rhys Bye as Mr Mayor and Chloe Armstrong as Mrs Mayor, lovely costumes and acting and I enjoyed their musical number “How To Raise A Child” which was confidently delivered.

Congratulation to the three Bird Girls played by Freya Graham, Gini Stephenson and Natasha Witton lovely performances and a great support as Myzies’s backing singers and a support to The Cat in the Hat and Gertrude, some lovely scenes and choreographed dance routines; well played and beautiful costumes.. Lovely performance from Lilly Anderson, Millie Cowan and Rachel Clayton as the Wickershams, great interpretation of their monkey characters and I loved the antics on stage well performed especially in their musical number “Monkey Around”. General Genghis Kahn Schmitz was gallantly played by Scott Anderson, this young man’s performance over a short period of time has gone from strength to strength and it so well to see his confidence developing, lovely stage presence and confident acting ability, vocally I enjoyed his contribution to the musical numbers “The Military” and “A message From The Front”. Playing the character Yertle the Turtle was Ben Colledge who put his heart and soul into his character, great costume and I enjoyed his contribution to the musical number “The trial of the People versus Horton The Elephant”. Playing the Grinch was Sophie Priestley; good cameo performance and interaction in her other character performances. Playing Vlad Vladikoff the black bottomed eagle was Harry Rayner; lovely acting coming through and confident delivery of his character.  

With a show of this size and a cast as big as this was the supporting cast are integral to ensure that the story was seamless and flowed; these cameo roles were fundamental and were exceptionally played congratulations to Charlie Best, Max Francis, Frank Stephenson, Louise Fordham, Oliver Best, Charlie Galloway and Alfie Stephenson as the cadets: lovely vocals and choreography and I loved the costumes. Evie Stephenson, Lola Punshon, Olivia Bowman, Megan Jones and Hailie Warren as the fish, great costumes, the jungle creatures brilliantly played by Lucy Edwards, Neve Anderson, Ruth Robinson, Millie Copeland, Ella-Rose McKenna, Harry Rayner, Alfie Stephenson, Naiomi Richie, Molly Dann, Ellie-Mai Carling, Amy Lowes, Skye Russell, Ava Norris, Louis Fordham, Skye Monahan and Lea Binks great character delivery and strong vocals. And the citizens of Who played by Charlie Best, Max Francis, Frank Stephenson, Elizabeth Chaney, Lola Punshon, Megan Jones, Darcey Gallone, Evie Stephenson,  Tabitha Daley, Evie Maddison, Isla Craig, Olivia Bowman, Jessica Markwell, Charlie Gilloway, Faith Nixon, Atlanta Lowery, Zoe Oxley, Hailie Warren and Sophie Priestley well done on some exceptional characterisation and I loved your musical number “Here On Who”.

Visually this was an excellent production; the cast delivered excellent acting ability and vocally the 31 musical numbers were delivered to a high standard with lots of lovely harmonies; everyone on stage demonstrated and performed with real energy and enthusiasm and it was evidently clear that the cast had a ball performing this production. Spennymoor Youth Theatre Group has an incredible amount of talent who delivered an excellent faultless production well done to the production team and cast on a thoroughly entertaining evening and remember “A person’s, a person no matter how small”. Well Done.

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