Seussical is the fourth musical from the award-winning Bilston Youth Company.
Written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty this family musical based on the stories of Dr Seuss, opened on Broadway in 2000 and ran until May 2001.
The Cat in the Hat leads the viewer into the jungle of nool, where we meet Horton the kind-hearted elephant, who is guarding a speck of dust which contains Whoville. When Horton tries to tell the rest of the jungle about the existence of the Who’s he is put on trial for insanity. This musical is a story of love, friendship, uniqueness and the importance of fighting for what you believe in.
Costumes by stage world and Jo Evans combined with scenery by scenic projects Ltd; effectively draw the audience into the bright fantasy world of Dr Seuss.
Producer/ Choreographer Laura Canadine has created a piece of theatre that is a joy to watch. The dance routines were delivered to a very high standard (the “bird girls” were fabulous).
Musical director Sam Deakin’s vocal arrangements throughout the production, but particularly in the ensemble numbers, assisted the young cast to create beautiful harmonies that soared through the auditorium.
William Tyne gave a very believable and confident performance as Jojo; he has a lovely singing voice and delivered all songs pitch perfectly.
Ella Morgan’s delivery of Amazing Mayzie took us completely by surprise. Her voice is superb, and she is also a wonderful dancer which resulted in one of my favourite performances of the show.
Jacob Kohli as “The Cat in the Hat”, had excellent comedic timing and a strong voice. His engagement with the audience caused two little boys, who were seated near us, to giggle with great excitement.
Jolie Uppal gave a strong performance as Gertrude, she has excellent stage presence and a fantastic voice; we particularly enjoyed Jolie’s rendition of Notice me Horton.
The stand out performance for us was delivered by Joe Riley as Horton. He portrayed Horton with such gentleness whilst still maintaining a great stage presence and he held our attention every time he was on stage. He delivered the emotion of Solla Sollew perfectly, creating a little piece of musical theatre magic. Joe is one to watch and we would not be surprised if we see Joe in the West End in a role such as Evan (Dear Evan Hansen) in the future.
This is a very talented cast, each person on stage worked together as a team to deliver a piece of theatre that was a delight to watch.
We left the auditorium with a smile on our faces and our heads full of the The thinks you can think.
Seussical – The Musical played at Dormston Mill Theatre, Mill bank, Sedgley, between 24th – 28th April 2018. For more information on Bilston Youth visit their website.
MT
Theatretastic 5/5:
We say: “This is a five star production from an insanely talented youth company. Seussical was a delightful treat!”
Theatretastic 