Suessical Jr.

After a warm welcome from Ed Owen, I settled down to watch a completely unknown musical about the extraordinary characters from the Dr. Seuss's stories. I was familiar with Cat in the Hat but that was as far as my knowledge went. So, it was fascinating to watch a group of immensely talented youngsters take me on a journey to the jungle of Nool.

The Cat in the Hat played by Willow Seaborn guides us through this adventure with an incredibly relaxed and confident manner. Her interaction with the audience was quirky and funny and had us in her grasp. Freya Jones as Horton the Elephant, delivered her lines with clarity and has a fine singing voice. Her quest to find a speck of dust containing Whoville was the storyline for Suessical Jr. and Freya’s depiction throughout was well balanced for each obstacle that Horton faced. The delightful Carla Bishop played JoJo, a ‘Who’ child who is constantly being told off for having too many "thinks." Carla too gave a relaxed and confident performance.

Mayzie la Bird played by the sassy Isla Crispin was fabulous, although a little cold hearted in abandoning the egg which Horton valiantly rescued. Whilst on his adventures Horton is supported by Isla Crispin as Gertrude, who adores Horton, although he is a bit slow in realising this. Isla maintained a faultless accent throughout and was an absolute joy to watch.

Mrs Mayor was played by Harriett for the show that I attended but I am reliably informed that all three Mayor’s - Molly, Lois and Harriet gave equally good performances.

The ensemble of eager youngsters completed the roles as animals and other characters in this production, but Charlotte Whiting, as the Kangaroo, deserves a mention for having such a powerful singing voice. The musicality and timing of the songs, which I thought was extremely challenging, was faultless, and the choreography was simply beautiful.

 The minimalistic set was transformed by the graphics on the back projection of the most wonderful images that enhanced the storyline and gave depth to the overall performance. I particularly enjoyed the underwater scene. The costumes were brilliant and imaginative. The little touches added, especially with the face painting was outstanding. However, the tiny tots who were so well behaved and absolutely adorable that they stole the show.

Thank you for inviting to explain to everyone what Noda is about, and my sincere congratulations to everyone involved in Suesssical Jr.

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