Seussical The Musical

It is quite rare now that I get to see a Musical that I’ve yet to watch but having been a fan of Dr Seuss from an early age I am not sure how this production has evaded me.

Well I am incredibly pleased that I got to witness a group as talented as Crash Bang Wallop Theatre perform it as my first showing and what they delivered was a technical and creative masterpiece.

Exploring a number of the different themes in Dr Seuss’s collection, combining over 15 of his stories, it is fair to say that the production is a masterclass in madness and mayhem. Probably one of the craziest shows I have seen yet lying beneath the comedy and confusion are really powerful messages of loyalty, friendship and compassion.

Under the direction of Dan Brookes and with a huge technical team behind him the Forum in Northallerton was transformed into a magical world of imagination, mystery and intrigue. The raised blocks acting like a playground with slides and swings used effectively throughout. The lovely backdrops beautifully decorated by the students with great detail and huge amounts of colour and the extended staging area cleverly used for the world of Who! This wasn’t just a practical set but one that was used to great effect with the wheeled on bird’s nest a real centerpiece for Act Two yet carefully handled to allow the scenes to flow.

As if the scenery wasn’t enough colour for the production but the costumes were also amazing creating these well known characters and giving them an almost Animated theme. The oversized Hat, the giant tail-feathers and all ensemble pieces really well coordinated and detailed. A huge amount of work must have gone into this and it really paid off.

Acting as our story teller and narrator of the whole show was the most famous character of them all, The Cat in The Hat played superbly by Sophie Hilton. Full of life from the start, Sophie’s energy never dropped despite the heatwave conditions. She was full of life and buzzing with animation and excitement in the role. Her facial expressions were genius and her dance-like movement navigated us from scene to scene perfectly. Her solo numbers were really well delivered, again a masterclass in story telling and her engagement with the other characters, JoJo in particular, was fabulous to watch. Her taking over the Conductor’s role at the start of Act Two was genius with her audience engagement absolutely perfect.

Julia Calje was brilliant as Jojo, the young boy caught up in so many different elements of the stories. Not only delivering her lines with such great clarity and meaning but really owning the stage - a great ability for an actress so young. Her vocals especially in Alone in The Universe were quite simply put, stunning.

It is impossible to give a full overview of the whole story as the show report would be even longer than mine normally are but the central character is that of our soft natured and loveable elephant Horton. Played with such understanding and sympathetic calmness by the wonderful Amos Lane. Possibly the only character in the production not caught up in the chaos Amos handled the role with real sensitivity making his character not only believable but also understood. To reflect the nature of the character the lines were softly spoken, often slowly delivered but ensuring his pick-up lines had pace. His mannerisms were slow and his eye gestures so meaningful you could almost see right into him. Another excellent vocalist in the company not only shining in the tone but in the meanings within the lyrics.

This Musical was a great choice for the Company as not only does it have huge ensemble numbers for a variety of performers but it is also packed with Principal and minor roles allowing everyone to get their teeth stuck into their characters. 

In the World of Nool; Jessica Woodcock was a Sour Kangaroo full of life and character, really punchy in her solo numbers giving attitude and sass. Emily Thorpe was brilliant as the arrogant and stuck up Mayzie LaBird, her ambitions and style matching her bright and vibrant colourful costume.

In their shadow yet growing in grace and confidence throughout the story is Gertrude McFuzz played by the brilliant Daisy Gibson. Her character starts by wanting to match the other colourful showbirds and growing a fancy tale yet later realising there is more to a person than what is on the outside. Her interactions with Horton showing her that kindness is caring means a lot more. Daisy really delivered this with heart and soul, her quiet demeanour showing control yet when called for she certainly packed a real punch. Her vocals in All For You were the standout vocals of the production whilst her connection with Amos in the tender and caring love story was tender and honest.

The Jungle of Nool not only offered us some excellent individual characters but some great mini groups too allowing the students to shine. The trio of Jillson Adams, Jules Gence and Oliver Greenhalgh were brilliant as the intimidating Wickersham Brothers swaggering around the stage with real purpose.

Bringing the life and soul to the party were our Bird Girls who were just captivating in their costumes but also in their excellent music and dance numbers expertly choreographed by Emma Greenhalgh and Chloe Richardson who did a brilliant job for all the big numbers in the show. The Bird Girls with their Showgirl styled staging were so polished in all of their scenes bringing glitz and glamour to their numbers. The vocals were tight, every movement had a purpose and together they looked a really intimidating bunch. Huge well done to Honey Beecroft, Amelia Elrick, Romy Gence, Polly Marsh, Josie Pargeter, Sophie Swales, Lucia Wheatley, Jessica Woodcock and Iris Sowerby-Culley who in particular really stood out with both her mannerisms and stage presence.

Over in the tiny world of Who we had a real eclectic bunch of characters, being looked down on by Horton and trapped in their miniature world. The town led by the fantastically over the top and wacky Mayor and Mayoress played with real purpose and energy by Arthur Wilson and Sophie Swales. These two bounced off each other like Punch and Judy with Arthur’s larger than life characteristics equally matched by Sophie. Two excellent comedic performers. The Huge number Here on Who was absolutely brilliantly performed to a level way beyond an Amateur production such was the detail and delivery of the clever routine.

Trying to take control of the Who’s was the flamboyant yet excellently regimented General Genghis Khan Schmitz played by William Townsend with a performance almost as big as his over-sized moustache. Great stage presence and confidence in the role allowed him to control his scenes with true military style precision.

There were so many excellent minor characters that I simply cannot name them all but please believe me when I say that everyone lived up to these well known characters and were all excellently cast.

Overall the production was a true hit. Vocally it shone with Musical Director Alice Carr-Smith clearly spending a lot of time on the solo and harmony detail in the ensemble numbers. Alan Owens took control as Conductor on the performances ensuring the timing was slick with his 8 piece orchestra adding to the performance rather than overpowering it. 

The staging was excellent with the whole show moving along at a great pace with the packed stage full of action yet not overcrowded and it was evident that just as much care had gone into developing the characters as well as the big numbers. Emma Greenhalgh and Chloe Richardson worked their magic yet again with some beautiful choreography keeping the routines at just the right level of complexity that they still looked slick and balanced throughout the whole cast.

This has to be one of the craziest musicals I have ever seen but in the hands of such a great team I left the Forum feeling energised and thoroughly entertained. Horton the Elephant’s famous quote is “A Person’s a person no matter how small”. Well every single person on that stage lived up to that quote delivering huge and magical performances.

A huge thank you to everyone, it’s always great meeting the cast afterwards as I can really feel the excitement and enjoyment every single member gets from being up on that stage. See you all in February for Frozen!

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.