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Seussical the Musical by San Diego Junior Theatre  In some of the most exciting news about human anthropology
made in the last few decades, it has recently been announced that the skeletal
remains of human “hobbits” averaging just over three feet tall have been found
on an isolated Indonesian island with evidence they likely survived until
twelve thousand years ago if not much later. They have scientifically been
dubbed Homo
floresiensis,
although some have debated whether they should be put in the
“Homo” genus at all with its implications that the species was “human,” starkly
posing the philosophical question as to whether people are people no matter how
small.
As it so happens, the answer to this dilemma is to be found right here in our own Balboa Park where people have been found who are even smaller than the hobbits! For it is there that San Diego Junior Theatre is currently putting on a truly astounding performance of Seussical the Musical – a story based on the books by La Jolla’s beloved, ingenious Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) centered on Horton the Elephant who one day hears the call for help from a bunch of tiny, microscopic Whos living on top of a small speck of dust. Horton saves them from immediate destruction by catching them and vowing to protect them, but that turns out to be difficult as the indignant beasts in the Jungle of Nool call Horton a fool for believing there are people on the speck, and they try to end all the silliness by putting an end to the Whos. The Whos, meanwhile, have a host of other very “human” problems to deal with from environmental disasters to wars based on questionable motives to people who just simply THINK way too much – people like the imaginative young daydreamer named JoJo who may just hold the fate of the Whos in his outlandish Who-thoughts. This magical musical by the creative team that wrote Ragtime: The Musical and Once on This Island includes a brilliantly conceived story using a host of Seuss characters and a musical score that is one magical and entertaining number after another. And performing those numbers is an unbelievably talented cast featuring a remarkable array of stunning voices and a whopping amount of comedic talent. The comedy is led by the gifted Matthew Bohrer as
the narrator of our show, the Cat in the Hat, whose hysterical and versatile
performance soon had the audience completely in his hands with his confident
and natural sense of humor, and including such cameos as a German plastic
surgeon, a snooty English auctioneer from “Seussaby’s,” a Big Top announcer, a
flaming French assistant to Mayzie, a fiery southern lawyer for the
prosecution, and a piano-playing Jimmy Durante. Elsewhere, Alex Fleming and Carly Toyer are the Who-Mayor and wife, parents of JoJo, who shuffle on and off the stage with a whimsical waddle, Jacob Sampson and Amanda Kleske are used in a variety of hilarious ways throughout the show as Thing 1 and Thing 2 (including finger-snapping bookends of Jimmy Durante’s piano, “raining” on hapless Horton using water rifles, and Keystone Cops trying to steal Horton’s dust speck away), and Anthony Kaneaster is an intimidating General Gengus Schmitz. The ensemble of Whos, jungle animals, and military cadets (as well as some dancing mermaids and frogmen) are an extraordinarily vibrant and talented lot of singers, actors, and dancers moving to Michael Anthony and Brian Zimmer’s fine choreography. Michael Anthony pulled out all the stops to turn this into a truly professional and spellbinding production. His flashes of brilliance and eye for comedy are everywhere. And on top of directing and choreographing, he also conducts the orchestra which is spot on throughout. Then there are the tremendous talents he brought in to make this one of the most visually stunning shows you’ll see anywhere in San Diego this year, with Tony Cucuzzella’s lavish sets bringing the artistry of Seuss out of the book and onto the stage, all painted with the magical brush of lighting genius Ginger Harris who creates the most enchanting pictures on the stage. And then there are the costumes! Clark Mires again demonstrates his inventiveness and vision with an enormous variety of imaginative costumes that look great both by themselves and together – including a bird tail that extends far beyond the length of the stage. Combined, the cast and crew have thought and brought into existence a thoroughly entertaining, dazzling, and enchanting evening of theatre that will encourage the thinkers in all of us – and doing that will truly make anything possible! Performs through November 7, 2004.
~ Cast ~
Cat in the Hat:
Matthew Bohrer |
And then there’s the rest of this all-star cast. Brian
Polk is an amusing Horton the Elephant with his nervous and sincere facial
expressions (especially nervous when surrounded by the bully Wickersham
Brothers Robert Dowling, Casey Gardner, and lead singer Brian
Crum). Emily Shackelford’s humor and body language, along with her
beautifully sung quirky love ballads to Horton, are a hit as Horton’s Plain
Jane, one-feathered-tail, bird-next-door Gertrude McFuzz who has a crush on the
loyal Horton. Jonathan Edzant is an adorable JoJo – the troublesome
“thinker” of the Whos who has to think quickly and creatively if they are all
to survive this story. Two absolutely phenomenal voices include the vibrant
vocal work of Sarah Petrella as the amusing and saucy bad bird Mayzie
La Bird and the powerful, soulful resonance of the Sour Kangaroo by the
ever-impressive Cailene Kilcoyne, not to mention some fine work by our
narrating “Bird Girls” Jackee Bianchi, Leigh Schindler, and Ashley
Moore and a quick but striking solo by Hannah Sumner as the
honorable Judge Yertle the Turtle who lays down the law. 