|
Seussical the Musical
Presented
by:
Whitehorse Musical Theatre
Reviewer:
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes is a founder of Theatre People and has spent the past
12 years as a Performer,
Director and Producer of amateur and professional theatre. Chris has
performed leading roles
with CLOC, Whitehorse, The Fab Nobs, Heidelberg Theatre Company,
Catchment Players and
Williamstown Musical Theatre in productions such as: Chess, Shout!
JC Superstar, Anything Goes,
West Side Story, Grease, Follies, Oklahoma and Hot Mikado… just to
name a few.
How can I critique Seussical? I’m not really the market,
This show is for kids! My review’s gonna to cark it!
My opinion means nothing, I need a child to help my ploy,
So I recruited a kid sitting next to me and interviewed the little
boy,
Do you like the show little fella? Who’s your favourite, my son?
He looked down and pondered. The Cat in the Hat! He’s the main one!
As adults we are conditioned to judge, based on experience. We
generally know if someone can sing, or act, but kids don’t. They
don’t care. They understand basic humour (fart and spew jokes go
down especially well) and they understand the extremes of emotion,
but little in between. So with that in mind, please remember that it
doesn’t really matter what I think. It matters what they think!
I
conduced a little “Vox Pop” after the show with some of the kids and
the reaction was overwhelmingly positive… and unexpected to say the
least. Some of the little champs commented on some things that
weren’t even in the show at all, such is their wild imagination and
ability to add their own embellishments. Never the less, they seemed
to get the point and were quite opinionated when it came to who was
their favourite character.
It was fantastic to hear the kids constantly asking questions
throughout the show and participating in the performance with their
parents. Normally, talking in the theatre is frowned upon, but kids
don’t care and it added another, most welcome dimension to the show.
Sometimes, they jumped up on their seats and started clapping along,
sometimes they cowered behind their chairs with their ears covered,
but they were all thoroughly engaged and had an absolute ball.
The cast were highly competent, consistent, energetic and were able
to create fantastic characters underneath the caricatures, which
really helped them connect with the audience. Kids can forgive a lot
when it comes to performance (A kangaroo with a southern American
accent for example...they just don’t join the dots and question
something like that), but they can spot a fake a mile away. From the
reactions I saw, they were totally drawn into the magical world of
Dr Seuss, hook, line and sinker.
Thank God that shows like Seussical exist for kids. I couldn’t think
of anything worse than dragging a child along to a crappy panto
watching some D-List actor speaking in a condescending tone, like
the kids in the audience are idiots, doing the whole “behind you,
behind you!” bit. Thankfully there are a new breed of stage
musicals; their origins in film (largely thanks to Disney) like The
Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins, just to name a
few. They introduce kids not only to a world of live performance
but also to legit musical theatre, a better alternative to weaning
them purely on musical cartoons.
Seussical has a great mix of clever and original stories that
intertwine and drive several positive messages in a delightfully
enchanting and entertaining way. As a kid, I really didn’t get a lot
exposure to the Dr Seuss books, but after seeing Seussical I will
definitely be making his wonderful stories part of my future
offspring’s curriculum.
Whitehorse
have again proven that they have the capability to stage a show with
excellent production values. This is due in no small part to the
show’s co-Directors, Chris and Lynette White. Chris and Lynette
have forged notable careers in the industry, and this recent
offering was as impressive as their biographies. Also responsible
for the set design and scenic art and the choreography,
respectively, the value the duo bring to any theatre company is
obvious. The three tiered set was impressive, functional and moved
seamlessly, as was the choreography. From the outset, the audience
was assured that they were going to witness a truly professional
production and thankfully, a consistent cast delivered on their
expectations.
Karl McNamara as The Cat in the Hat was energetic and charming.
While a lot of his best gags were saved for act two, including some
much needed audience interaction, Karl delivered a likeable
performance, displayed excellent comic timing and peaked when he
needed to.
Shaun Kingma as “Horton” was endearing as the reliable and
vulnerable elephant. Shaun has performed a diverse range of roles
over his long tenure in theatre, but perhaps none as challenging, or
as fun as Horton. Rather than put him in an overly ornate costume,
the direction team chose to go with simple grey overalls and an ear
flap hat, which gave the impression of an elephant, while not
obstructing his face. It was a clever move that allowed Shaun to
convey a lot more expression and really connect with the audience.
Shaun is an accomplished actor who continues to push his performance
standards again and again and is undoubtedly one of the most
exciting performers on the amateur circuit. He continues to raise
the bar and the audience, young and old, showed their appreciation
with thunderous applause when he came out during the curtain call.
Another highlight was Emily Doran as Gertrude McFuzz. When it comes
to comic book acting, Emily just gets it. She’s has a strong voice
with excellent projection, beautiful tone and her dialogue was well
measured. She looked every inch the part and was brilliantly cast.
She could easily have walked straight in from the Broadway
production and was impressive throughout.
Sallyanne Read and Tony Burge as Mr & Mrs Mayor were also stand-out
supporting roles. I particularly liked Sally’s unusual vocal and
facial characterisation and use of props. Anthony Shephard’s
portrayal of Jo Jo was also notable. The youngster performed with
confidence and will no doubt continue to develop his already
impressive skills. Jessica Carbone was well cast and delivered the
sexy sass that was in keeping with her character Mayzie LaBird.
Bridgid DeNeefe as the Sour Kangaroo occasionally looked more like
the Apathetic Kangaroo, as her lack of expression failed to match
her meaty voice. She delivered a striking vocal performance, but I
felt that she perhaps relied too heavily on her voice to deliver her
character and needed to be a little more animated.
The ensemble had plenty to do and executed their many numbers with
energy and vigour. Their dancing was solid throughout, helped along
with some straightforward choreography that suited the piece. The
stage was often quite full, but the traffic moved on and off stage
seamlessly and the production maintained a lively pace.
Musically this score is nothing to write home about and is quite
forgettable, but it’s appropriate for the show, was fun to hear once
and was delivered with care and general accuracy from the entire
cast. Costumes by Miranda Kalgovas were a excellent. They were well
conceptualised and provided an appropriate foreground to the show.
I’m not sure what was with the Corona sponsored hat in the opening
number that stuck out, but the rest of the
costuming, particularly those of Gertrude McFuzz and Mayzie La
Bird’s, displayed excellent attention to detail and were
conscientiously constructed.
The Chris and Lynette White production team have proven yet again
that they can consistently deliver incredibly high quality shows
that never fail to impress an inspire. Seussical is the must see
family show of 2008. While this show is primarily for families… If
you are one of those tragic adults who refused to grow up and still
read Harry Potter books (I know there’s a lot of you out there!)...
then Seussical will be right up your alley too. You will not see a
more professional version of this show for a long time, so I
strongly encourage you to take the family for a great night out.
Chris Hughes
|