Seussical the Musical Junior

This was a well chosen show for such a lively youth group, the musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty is based on the books by Dr Seuss. Not an easy show to direct, however, the production team did a brilliant job. From the start the entire cast had an abundance of energy and enthusiasm with every single member of the cast smiling all the way through which was a delight to see. The production was full of colour, interesting characters and with the entire cast showing a lot of promise which held the audiences attention throughout, it was hard sometimes to realise that this was a youth presentation, so well rehearsed and disciplined they were.

The story takes us to a magical land where a caring and gentle elephant called 'Horton' played by Matthew Rankcom can hear people who live on a speak of dust; he makes it his mission to save the people of Whoville, Matthew is no stranger to the stage and his portrayal of Horton was excellent, with good stage presence, a strong singing voice and his seamless ability to act throughout every one of his musical number, maintaining the character and delivering a polished performance which was well received from the audience. An excellent portrayal by Amelia Lambert as the 'Cat in the Hat', who linked the show together. She had a good singing voice and stage presence and a good feeling for timing and never lost her character at all, I enjoyed her performance very much and she has lots of potential. In Horton’s quest to save the people of Whoville he is waylaid by a vivacious and vain bird called  'Maizie La Bird'  played by Shelley Nicholson  who persuades him to incubate her egg whilst she takes off to a tropical island, a good performance by Shelley who again delivered her musical numbers well. An excellent performance was also delivered by Lucy Garnett as 'Gertrude McFuzz', very strong vocals for such a young lady delivering her musical numbers perfectly, great stage presence and worked well with the character Horton - an excellent performance and someone to watch in the future.

Josie Littlewood playing 'JoJo' was excellent in this part, It was obvious from this production that Josie’s confidence has developed and she looked and sang confidently on stage - I look forward to seeing a lot more of her in the future. A strong performance also from Nicole Parry as 'Sour Kangaroo', excellent stage presence and again delivered her musical numbers well. Good performances from Joshua Baker and Caroline Knox as 'Mr and Mrs Mayor.' Congratulations must also go to the 'Wickersham Brothers' played by Evie Miller and Liam Whincop - good performances throughout, as was James Cox as the 'Young Kangaroo', the 'not so Bad Girls' played by Mia Simpson, Millie Simpson, Millie McBeth, Gabrielle Stoker and Erin Vardy with some nice pieces of choreography coming through. Congratulation also to Bobbi Bunker for her role as the 'Grinch', Ellie Middleton as 'Yertle the Turtle' and Emily Bell as 'Vlad Vladkoff'. A good Chorus brought all the musical numbers to life therefore congratulations must also go to the Jungle Animals and Whoville Citizens played by Lillie Canning, Molly Chapman, Lily Dixon, Freya Doran, Keira Feeney, Eve Gordon, Aimee Honnor, Ella Hopper, Amelia Lambert, Thomas Maher, Kyle Marley, Georgia Rutherford, Rosie Simmons, Faye Stewart, Mia Stewart and Erin Usher.

Praise must also go to the technical team with Andrew Simpson on Lighting, Jak Jobson on sound, Helen Land as stage manager and the back stage team and chaperones. The set was very simple and innovative and when space is at a premium it is important to use every idea to bring the set together and this was certainly achieved. The sound and lighting was adequate although there were some technical issues with the sound on the night that I visited although this did not detract from the production. This production certainly gave the audience something to remember for a long time to come. The show delivered some fantastic individual and chorus performances and it is always a great pleasure to watch so many youngsters experiencing the thrill and excitement of musical theatre and my congratulations to those people whose skill and experience made it all possible. Congratulation to everyone at MTG Youth Section.

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