| A Successful Seussical | | Print | |
| Written by Le'Royce Bratsveen | |
| Monday, 04 August 2008 | |
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The story begins with a bare stage, save for an odd red-and-white striped hat. A small boy, JoJo, played delightfully by Emily Bradfield, discovers it and imagines what/who it could belong to, conjuring up the Cat in the Hat played creatively by PJ Freebourn, who then creates the Seussian world around him and the “boy”, and acts as the narrator for the remainder of the musical, as well as playing some of the minor roles. At the Cat's encouragement, the boy thinks up the Jungle of Nool, where Horton the Elephant is bathing, and the exciting journey begins! Emily Bradfield shines in this role and holds her own as a youth in a principle role playing in a cast made up of mostly adults. This is most definitely a “high energy” show! The action of the show kept me so engaged that I actually wanted intermission to be a little shorter, so that I could see where the show was going, and what was going to happen next.
The breakout performances of the evening are the heartwarming, and mostly hysterically funny performances of Stephen Mason (Horton), Amy Sloan (Gertrude), and Alexandra Shephard (Mayzie). These three performers appear to be “born” to play their respective roles. Their vocals are incredible, their characters thoroughly developed, and their delivery spot-on. From Horton’s heartbreaking quest to save Whoville ( I loved the boat ride sequence), to Gertrude's growing tail (and those who had to carry it), and Mayzie’s crazy, footloose and fancy-free lifestyle (where she actually leaves her egg to be hatched by an elephant), take this story out of the realm of the childhood nursery rhymes that we all remember, and add a grown up determination to pursue their individual dreams and live their lives on their own terms. And then there’s the “Cat” - “The Cat in the Hat that is” – played with great enthusiasm by PJ Freebourn. Mr. Freebourn has taken this character and made it his own. I applaud him for that. I found his interpretation to be zany, high-energy, and actually “catty” in some instances. However, being that “The Cat in The Hat” is such an iconic character in my psyche, I didn’t see any resemblance to the “Cat” of my youth. You know, the tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat - that sly old fella who basically “tricked” two little kids into destroying their home, “when their mother was out” and who’s antics are vainly opposed by the family pet, an articulate goldfish. This is not an indictment on Mr. Freebourn’s performance; he made the acting choice, was consistent in the delivery, and by the end of it all I came to slightly warm up to a “different” version of “The Cat” that I loved and remember as a kid. The costuming (Sonia Cruz-Putney and Soriana Sanchez Cruz) was cool and hip. Instead of trying to make the humans look like animals, the humans are given animal-like attributes through their clothing. I found this incredibly clever! Lights (John Wilt) were incredible. Ladies and Gentlemen, you have got to see the “Black Light” musical number “Having A Hunch”; this has got to be one of the most innovative things that I have seen in all of Hampton Roads theatrical productions in my two years of being here. Sound (James Clarke) for the most part was rich, and wonderful with no glitches. However, sometimes, especially in the case of JoJo, the sound seemed to overpower the vocalist. Choreography (Sherri Smith-Reid) was beautifully designed and executed. The highlight of the evening in this area was the sea-scene in the musical number “It’s Possible” complete with “fish”. The set, designed by Jeff Corriveau and the scenic artists (Ellen Eames, BetteBelle Libke, Shira Puncekar, Amy Sloan, Allen Holden, Delaney Brightman, Randall Willoughby) who created it deserve a standing ovation. I am always pleased with what PCT does with its stage and always excited what they are going to do next with their stage. This time, it’s a “pop –up” book. Every single number becomes another exotic location, the stage transformations are fluid and you don’t really notice that they are being changed until you are in your new location. It wouldn’t be a review without a criticism or two right? However, I actually had to search my mind for something to actually critique, that’s how much I enjoyed this show! Well here is my one critique, the ONLY thing I could think of: the role of JoJo is written to be played by a boy and as such, all the dialogue and lyrics refer to the character as male. In this instance, we have a girl playing the role, and well … she looks like a girl. I was confused as to why the dialogue wasn’t changed to reflect the change in gender, until I realized by listening to the score, that it would have been virtually impossible to do. Therefore, more effort should have been made to have JoJo look and act like a boy in the role. SEUSSICAL runs the next two weekends Fri & Sat @ 8PM Sundays @ 2:30PM at Peninsula Community Theatre. To reserve your tickets please visit www.PCTlive.org |
You should see this -- YES YOU SHOULD! You’ve got to see this -- IT’S VERY GOOD!
Each and every performer in this show brought that “little something” to the canvas to create one great piece of artwork. 
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I don't understand Scott's post, either. PCT always has great sets, even for shows that are not that great. pct always has excelent set design im curious as to what you are comparing it to I am going to go see it...I've heard mixed reviews...but more positive than negative. I am expecially excited to see the set, since normally PCT does not do too nice job with set design. Loved it! loved it so much I will be going a second time. I especially enjoyed the surprise audience interaction with Thing 1 and Thing 2 who were so delightful! They made the intermission a treat instead of a treatment! Excellent, entertaining show. The energy was palpable. It truly allowed me to relax and feel like a kid again. Were all those quotation marks really necessary in this review? This production of Seussical was very well done, I must agree. The direction and choreography was great; every choice was very fitting for Seuss. Casting was definitely very strong; all of the characters portrayed their roles extremely well. I was especially impressed with the vocal and acting abilities of Horton, the comedic timing of thing 1 and 2, and the strong performance of the chorus. I love watching the chorus when each member gives the show their all, has great facial expressions and rocks out the choreography. The replacement of a pit orchestra with orch extra and a pianist was a little saddening to me; I would hope the pianist would be better practised in order to strongly round out the sound of orch extra and also be able to carry the show without a full pit. Set and prop design was so Seuss-like, I thought that it popped straight out of a book. The costume design was very fitting and flattering for all characters including the chorus and the color choices complimented the set. Unforunately, the lighting design was the weakest part of the show in my book. The blacklight scene was done extremely well, but that was mostly thanks to the prop design and scenic painting abilities [and good costuming]. As someone who works in theatrical production, I understand the difficulties of that space, especially the minimal front-of-house lighting. However, a lot more could have been done with high sides to help illuminate faces with on-stage positioning; the fixtures could have been focused better [and softened so that the hard circle edge didn't stand out so much on the scenery and proscenium]; and the gobo on the cyc to give the idea of the forest could use a little work (fuzz the focus slightly and move the fixture so that you do not see a strange-looking circle). I did, however, enjoy the pre-show lighting and the choices in cyc light colors. All-in-all this production was wonderful- kudos to the cast and crew for putting on a great show! =) |