Seussical

A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Small

Seussical

by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Eric Idle, after Theodor Seuss Geisell

BROS Theatre Company at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 25^th May

Review by Andrew Lawston

Cats in hats, Horton hearing Whos, Grinches stealing Christmas, all are present and correct in BROS’s bold and confident new production of Seussical, a musical celebration of the works of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.

With blistering speed, young Jojo (a suitably wide-eyed and adventurous Leo Pettit) makes the acquaintance of Callum Taylor’s mercurial Cat in the Hat.  Jojo is a Who, of Whoville, and is Heard by Horton, a grey elephant played with indefatigable gusto by Mathew Madeley.  Whoville is revealed to be a tiny world that sits on a speck on some clover, and Horton spends most of the show guarding both the clover and the brightly-coloured egg laid by the vivacious Mayzie La Bird (Tash Wills).  He is occasionally tormented by the Wickershams, a trio of monkeys played with relish by Faye Brann, Christopher Bryan and Roxane Ip.  In addition to Mayzie La Bird, Horton is friendly with Rebecca Tarry’s Gertrude McFuzz, a bird with only one feather in her tail, who undergoes several transformations throughout the story.

Meanwhile in Whoville, the Mayor and the Mayor’s Wife (Joe Black and Caro Hayes) worry that Jojo is thinking too much.  Jojo is eventually packed off to war by General Genghis Kahn Schmitz, in a gloriously unhinged turn from Julian Briscoe as the crazed soldier who seems to wear a CND symbol on the back of his uniform.

All of the above goes without mentioning the odd appearance from the Grinch, the Things, and three more birds played by Hope Curran, Imogen Hartley, and September Taliana-Carey.  And finally, the scene-stealing Sour Kangaroo.  A vivid purple creation that combines costume with puppetry, Delsa Ghorbani’s Sour Kangaroo channels Aretha Franklin for some of the most memorable musical numbers.

Despite being almost entirely sung, Paul Madeley’s direction and choreography ensures that Seussical’’s story races along at a blistering pace.  Some might almost say bewildering pace, as there are few concessions to those in the audience who may not be overly familiar with the works of Dr. Seuss, or who may have read them some years ago.  It goes without saying that the audience’s younger members keenly appreciate both the pace and the recreation of well-loved characters.  This reviewer is almost certain that he’d read some of the books referenced in the show, but mostly made do with a broad knowledge of the characters gained through cultural osmosis.

Jojo’s adventure is clearly a designer’s dream, from the monochrome cartoon set from Wes Henderson-Roe and Patrick Troughton, to the colourful and evocative costumes designed by Mags Wrightson and Terrie Creswell, and even Sian Bowles-Bevan’s vivid props.

But despite the spectacular design, this is very much a musical, and Tom Chippendale’s musical direction shines through as the cast belt out rousing number after rousing number from the oft-reprised Oh The Thinks You Can Think, Alone In The Universe, and How Lucky You Are, to The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz.  The songs are upbeat, catchy, and sung with huge gusto by both the solo performers and the sizeable ensemble.

Seussical is a show that has been designed with younger theatregoers in mind but the sheer energy on display throughout its two acts ensures that there is plenty here to entertain the whole family.

Andrew Lawston, May 2024

Photography courtesy of BROS