Seussical the Musical

OK- now the show itself. Sets- these were spectacular and the highlight of the show for my money. Bravo to Martin Shaw and the team. They were bright, colourful, and full of the energy of Suess. The tree with the nest- genius. Costumes- These were another highlight. Congrats to Terry McAuley for these. They were vivid, bright and absurd. Suess would have approved I’m sure. My only concerns were a couple of costumes, particularly the kangaroos and jungle animals, where I was confused slightly as to what they were. Of course maybe this was the idea? These unfortunately failed to save the disaster of the evening which was the sound. I had several concerns. In a show based on Suess, the text is more than critical to the understanding of plot and character and humour. Most of the text of the night was muffled and difficult to understand. Some was completely incomprehensible. The house PA was poor quality with a poor mix for voice, and microphones appeared to be of poor quality in at least a couple of instances (particularly Mayzie). Also the choice of headsets rather than taping mikes directly to the body was perplexing. Most of the night was punctuated by bumps or scratches against the head sets, with the resulting splat or grunt coming through the system. I also got to see large black cables hanging out of costumes. The venue is patently atrocious for musicals, small stage, poor acoustics, and where do you put a band?! I’m also sure it’s a nightmare to amplify cleanly. This highlights the importance of using quality equipment in the first place. It must be said though that the band throughout were refreshingly gentle, rarely swamping the vocal sound. They were on their mettle throughout the show, with a clean sound and provided a solid base for the cast to sing from. The orchestration is I suspect a little larger than what was used, as there were moments where the scoring seemed emaciated. More instruments would have likely obliterated any chance of hearing the cast though. The lighting was interesting, but either some lights were simply not focussed properly, or cast were blocked poorly or not in the right spot. There was a few times where lights were highlighting not the lead character, but the 3rd monkey from the right. This added to the confusion of understanding the text. Some great ideas were used visually, for instance the bath bubbles scene was really effective and I enjoyed the UV light ‘Hunch’ number. I could also see out of the window to my left and see cast/crew moving outside throughout the show. This was a small but irritating distraction. The chorus- overall great energy from all. I would have liked a more blended sound in the full chorus numbers, but it was the only time text was clear to me. Some members of the chorus were really great, though I don’t know names of most. Miranda Macpherson was notable in a fully committed and energised performance, and others I noted were the blond curly haired boy next to her in the last number and the Who mothers. Choreography didn’t seem to necessarily be created with the space in mind. There were several times I saw clashes and near-crashes in an over-crowded stage area. Some of the work was very beautiful though. I would have liked to see and hear more precision from the chorus, both in dance and vocally. Overall it just needed to be tighter, especially in the tiny space. Characters: Kid/JoJo. As I’ve already stated I’m not usually fond of children on stage, and was especially wary noting the lead girl was the daughter of the director. Madeleine Shaw then proceeded to win me over with a performance worthy of any stage veteran. She was confident, energetic and a delight to watch. One question- was this character supposed to be a boy or a girl? I’m confused. The Cat in the Hat. Drew Elliot’s performance was full of hilarious moments. He brought to life the mischievous nature of the cat in his role as our MC, and kept me amused (despite mike issues at times). He needs to work on his vocal quality (mostly sounds support-based) to match his vocal talents with his obvious brilliance as a physical performer. The Bird Girls- These girls were the vocal highlight of the night. The best, cleanest, richest and most beautiful part-singing in the show came from these three. Bravo. Horton the Elephant- Alex McLennan’s performance was that of an assured and confident veteran. He convincingly portrayed the simple, caring and trusting nature of Horton, and his quiet strength and resolve in simply doing what he said he would do. (A real role model in our current blame and sue age.) I enjoyed his performance a lot. Sour Kangaroo- Breeanh Jones’ performance in this role was THE highlight of the show for me. The main protagonist of Horton and the voice of the great cynical mass, Breeahn gave us a belter. Some serious kick-ass sound and attitude made this role hers. The really great sound needs to be more consistent throughout her range, and more controlled, but wow! I must also mention a great performance from 4-yr-old Stephanie Shaw as young kangaroo. She was ‘cute’, but actually performed her role very well too, which earns her big points from me! Wickersham brothers- This was an inconsistent performance from these guys. Some shaky part-singing combined with movement that seemed to lack confidence in spots. I would have liked more ‘manic’ and insane from them, a little less held back! Gertrude McFuzz- The love interest for Horton (maybe it’s the inter-species nature of the show that makes it adult?!). Gertrude spends most of the show trying to change how she looks (bigger tail) to make Horton notice her, only for him to not. This must be a difficult role to perform and Vicki Kirkman does an admirable job. The desperateness to be liked by her neighbour Horton is palpable throughout, though Vicki’s voice was little too thin in spots for my liking. I was also mystified (with several other performers also) as to why she kept slipping into and out of a quasi-American accent. The show wasn’t set in America (was it?) neither did it appear to be an American character/creature. I am a believer in saving accents for where it is needed to help highlight the distinctness in a character. Mayzie La Bird. Kira Morsely does great in this role, highlighting the moral vacuum of self-importance of this character. However, a lot of what she sang was so muffled to be inaudible. If I didn’t see the headset, I would have sworn her mike was inside her bra. A little more confidence in the sexiness of the movement would help to take this character up another level. Mr and Mrs Mayor. Ron Seymour and Kristen Twynam-Perkins. While Ron is a decent singer, Kristen is clearly not. It was obvious she was more comfortable singing unison. Any harmony was painfully out, and maybe it would not hurt to remove any harmony singing from this role. That said, they were both excellent portraying the concerned, though misguided, parents- ‘Our JoJo is thinking too much!’. However, in casting this role, I am left wondering whether a conscious decision to employ a non-singer was made by the director, and if so, why some effort to alleviate the obvious vocal problems wasn’t made. The Who’s- were great!!!! I really enjoyed every scene with these simple creatures in it. Peter Knol was commendable bringing out the straight and unthinking nature of the war-lord General Genghis Kahn Schmitz. The obvious parody of the military, with his utter confusion at the concept that it doesn’t matter whether you eat your bread butter-side-up or butter-side-down, the entire reason for the war, is both hilarious and uncomfortable when mapped against many current world events. Andrew Wong as the judge conveyed the stodginess of the legal establishment well, but I feel even more effort to really enunciate his text is critical- especially as it is vocally very low. My apologies to any I didn’t mention. The actual script/music. Maybe the problems with hearing text added to this feeling, but I was often left a little lost by the show. There’s a lot of repetitive writing in the music, and some characters didn’t seem to serve a purpose, or were simply not developed enough. Vlad Vladikoff is one that immediately springs to mind. Overall I think some assistance in the program might have helped me a lot. Big kudos to the work put in by Kimberley Shaw the director, and especially Caroline Badnall the MD. This doesn’t seem to be a particularly easy show to prepare musically, and working with technical problems, a reduced band that was still constantly working to keep its sound small, and of course, playing piano while conducting the show (always a triumph of extreme coordination in my opinion), Caroline did a fine job. Overall I really had a good night out. I had fun, enjoyed the colour and spectacle of the performance, and would recommend you go see it. And funnily, I think kids would LOVE it! Just fix up those mikes please! It's the simple things stupid...